Pugnare aut Currere?
by TheGnRFangirl
Summary: Sequel to veritas. Sakura has lived in Oto or the City of Sound with her new friends Sasuke, Itachi, and Madara for five months now. She and Sasuke are learning to control their powers as Danzo searches for them relentlessly.The question is will they be ready to fight or will they have to run away like before?
1. Chapter 1

**Prologue**

**A/N:Okay I know that I said that I would finish one of the other stories before I started this one but I couldn't help my self. I'll try my best to try and make the chapters long for this story. I hope this makes up for my long absence. -Chojitsuna (TheGnRFangirl)**

I was running as fast as my legs could carry me down a familiar suburban neighborhood. It was the neighborhood I had grown up in when I still lived with my mother. I looked behind me and saw a cloaked figure right on my heels. Who was this man though? I've seen him somewhere once haven't I? That hooded cloaked was familiar but I couldn't remember where I had seen it. I turned away and looked at the only safe destination I could think of in my panic; home. I was able to open the door and shut it before the cloaked figure could get in. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath because I was sure that the danger was gone.

I opened my eyes and found myself shackled to the wall in the living room. What the hell was going on?I felt my heart and breathing speed up. I tried to pull myself off the wall but I just did not have the strength to free myself. What was going on now?

"Mom!" I yelled. "Mom!"

The only response I got was a loud thud from the hallway. I don't know why but the thud sounded wrong to my ears. What was in the hall way that would make that kind of noise?

"Your 'mother' won't be coming for you Sakura." I heard a female voice say from the hallway.

That voice sent chills down my spine. It sounded hollow and flat. There was no emotion in it. I turned my head to see who the speaker was. The woman who was speaking had red hair and green eyes. She reminded me of someone I knew but I couldn't quite remember.

"How dare you let me die Sakura?" She asked me.

Let her die? I don't even know this women yet she claims that she lost her life because of me. Was she one of the patients I helped my mother take care of? I don't remember anyone dying under my care and it was mostly the elderly that I worked with. This woman looked like she could be in her mid to late twenties.

"Do you remember what you did to me at all?" She asked.

I only shook my head.

"You ungrateful child!" She yelled at me in that flat tone. "Your father and I gave up our lives for you! Then you let me bleed to death on a stage!"

What the hell was she talking about? Her and my father? I don't have a father. My mother never married anyone at all. I was about to ask her what she was talking about when the woman pulled out a giant ax. I felt myself freeze at the sight of the ax. What was she going to do with that?

"Maybe this will jog your memory Sakura." She said as she raised the ax.

I screamed as she aimed the ax for my waist.

I opened my eyes and screamed as I sat up straight in my bed. My body was entangled in my blankets and covered in cold sweat. The fear I felt from the nightmare still lingered in my veins. I heard someone open the door to my room and just hold me. I could still see the women with the ax in the back of my mind. I looked at the person who was currently comforting me and noticed hair that reminded me of a lion's mane. He was muttering soothing words so that I would calm down and stop shaking.

I heard footsteps near the door but I ignored them for now. I just concentrated on Madara's comforting words. It felt like an eternity before I stopped shaking. The fear still lingered for some reason but I was able to push past it for now.

"It'd okay Sakura." I heard Madara say soothingly. "Whatever it was it's gone now. You're safe. Nothing can hurt you."

"Grandpa what happened in here?" I heard a familiar male voice ask.

"I'm not sure." Madara answered. "She mostly just keeps shaking. It doesn't seem like anyone came in but that means close to nothing to me. Can you get her a glass of water Sasuke?"

I heard someone leave my room and heard someone come closer.

"Hey what's wrong?" I heard a deep male voice ask.

I looked at the speaker. His hair color reminded me of a crow. His eyes were a deep black color but near the pupil of his eyes there was a very faint ring of red. I heard footsteps from the door and turned to see Sasuke walk in with a glass of water. His hair reminded of a raven because it was black but it had a bit of blue in it. His hair always spiked up strangely behind his head. It sometimes reminded me of a cockatoo.

He handed me the glass of water which I took gratefully. I only took small sips from the water because I know that I had the guys worried with my silence.

"What happened?" Sasuke asked me.

"I had a really bad nightmare." I told him.

"What was the dream about?" Madara asked.

"I don't think we need to make a big deal about a nightmare Grandfather." Itachi said. "It might be nothing at all."

"She mentioned back at the manor once that dreams can have some meaning Itachi. In a way, the nightmare we shared one night came true."

There was silence in the room, well almost silence. The only noise in the room that could be heard came from outside the window. Out here in the big city known as Oto, there was never a moment of silence. You could hear the sounds of cars moving, people talking or arguing, and of course people playing instruments.

"What happened in the dream?" Madara asked me again.

I told him about the cloaked figure that now reminded me of Danzo and the red haired woman who almost killed me in the nightmare. When I mentioned the red haired I noticed Itachi looked at me strangely. I'm not sure if he knew the woman or just thought that I was crazy.

"Do you want any of us to stay with you for tonight?" Madara asked concerned.

I smiled gratefully at him but I declined his offer. It really was just a nightmare and for now it seemed really far away. I wanted to get back to sleep.

I told them all good night as they left my room. Once they were gone I disentangled myself from the sheets and fell backwards into my pillow. I looked to the nightstand on my right and looked at the green book that just sat there. I placed my hand on it to give me some form of comfort before I closed my eyes again.

I woke up in the morning peacefully. There was no nightmare this time to disturb my sleep. I got out of bed and started getting ready for the day. I didn't have school to keep me busy even though it was a week day. I'm only fifteen years old but I no longer bothered with school. I'm supposed to be six feet underground in the Konoha cemetery so I wouldn't even be allowed to use my real name.

I know that I signed up for this five months ago when I met Sasuke Uchiha by accident in the manor where his entire family was slaughtered. Right now it's not something that I regret but I do miss my old life with my friends. I've never really set foot outside of Konoha until recently. Unfortunately for me; it might not be safe for to return home ever again because I'm supposed to be dead and there might be other people there that can harm me if I'm not careful. There is someone after my new friends and possibly me.

Right now I currently live with three guys in a decent three bedroom apartment. Itachi and Sasuke shared the bigger bedroom that was at the end of the hallway. Madara's room was right across the hall from my door. It was easy to hear each other through the walls of the rooms making it easy to hear anyone scream. There wasn't much furniture in the apartment. With less stuff to carry around it would make it easier to run off if we ever had to make a quick escape.

I finished getting ready for the day ahead of me. I was wearing a simple black T-shirt, cargo shorts, and tennis shoes. I can move around comfortably in this outfit.

I made my way out to the living room and saw that the boys were all ready for the day as well. All three of them looked like something was bothering them. I felt the blood drain from my face. This was never a good sign. Madara noticed my presence and motioned for me to sit down. Itachi and Sasuke merely gave me a glance.

"What's wrong?" I asked as soon as I sat down.

"Mediums aren't supposed to have nightmares or even bad dreams." Madara stated. "If you're having nightmares then it's a bad sign. Dreams are supposed to be a form of sanctuary for mediums. Any nightmare is supposed to leave clues for something that is about to happen soon. I'm not sure I want us to leave Oto just yet but I am concerned. If anyone else has a nightmare then we leave. For now we just continue our routine."

There was silence in the room for a couple of seconds. Madara's words kept repeating in my mind. We'd have to run away again soon. It was hard leaving Konoha behind and not have contact with my past. I had to fight back my tears. Now wasn't the time for me to break down.

"You okay?" I heard someone ask.

Itachi was looking at with concern in his eyes. I didn't trust my voice at all so I just nodded my head.

"Well if that's all we needed to talk about I'll leave." Itachi said as he got up.

Itachi was our main source of income during the week. He worked as store manager at the moment. During the weekend Sasuke and I would work at a family restaurant. We didn't really need the money too badly. It turns out that we didn't actually eat food at all so we just used the money to help pay for rent.

We heard Itachi close the front door of the apartment. Immediately my gaze turned to Madara. He's made it his job to make sure that Sasuke and I understand the full extent of our powers and how to use them to defend ourselves. We normally did things in the day time in a secure location so no one would see us. Back in Konoha there were many places that we could have used to practice in secret. Most of the buildings here in Oto were crowded together and filled with people so I thought that it would be impossible for us to practice. It turned out there was a reason why Madara wanted to come here.

A majority of the cities and small towns within the country were around hundreds of years ago. There were many families that had mediums back when magic was first being discovered. Many of the families didn't like each other too much and often fought. Some families were stronger than others so they withstood the test of time. Other magic families were killed and forgotten. Oto was once a major battleground for the mediums at one point. Mediums that could heal were in heavy demand because of the bloodshed. Families tried to make alliances, packs, and treaties but there was too much distrust for them to last long.

One could say that I was in an alliance with the Uchiha boys right now. We were working together at the moment. It did take me a while to open up to Itachi for personal reasons but once I did he became like an older brother to me. I usually practiced with Sasuke and we did talk to each other a lot so he's kind of like my closest friend now. Madara is our mentor, protector, and I guess our parent now. Having him watch over us was a bit weird for me because I was used to my mother being there for me. I never rally had a male adult in my life that I could ever call father. It was really nice to have Madara there.

"Are you two ready to leave?" Madara asked.

"I just need to get my book." I told him.

"I'm ready." Sasuke answered.

I quickly went t my room and grabbed the green book that was lying on my night stand. Once it was in my arms I hurried back to the living room.

"Let's go." I said as I grabbed the keys from the coffee table.

Our destination wasn't very far. There was a part of the city that was abandoned who knows how long ago. There were some old buildings that weren't any higher then three or two stories. Very few people were ever seen here so there wasn't much of a need to be to secretive.

I parked the car behind one of the buildings so no one would be able to spot the car too easily. We got out of the car and made our way toward an open manhole. There many places underground that concealed us pretty well. Believe it or not but the sewer system in this part of the city was bone dry. There was a slight stench that hung in the air but it wasn't something that would cause anyone to lose their lunch. It wasn't a long walk to our destination. It took us about ten minutes of walking through the sewer tunnels before we found a door.

We had spent about a week looking for this place when we first arrived in the city. There were a couple of other mediums here that we didn't want to associate with so we had to find a place that was either abandoned or untouched. Someone told Itachi about this place we set out to find it. This was the place where we could practice our magic without any disturbance from regular humans.

Madara waved his hand across the surface of the door and we hard the mechanics of the door start to move and open the door. I was honestly baffled when we first found this room because there was no electricity here that could activate the door. Madara then explained to me that the door responded to the presence of magic. The room we were entering was once as an arena a while ago. There was still dried up blood on the floor and there was even an area where a small crowd could watch. The place sent chills down my spine but it was a safe place to practice.

The whole room was a perfect circle. The area where any fighting might have taken place had a fifty foot diameter. The ceiling was a decent height. There were already some special spells in the room that kept it usable. The area where the crowd would watch was protected by a special barrier that deflected anything. I actually spent a few minutes throwing things at the barrier just to make sure. The ceiling was reinforced as well so that any big spells would cause it to collapse. The arena was basically in a world of its own. Someone told me that these arenas could be left in ruins and once you return in as little as an hour the arena would like nothing at had happened to it. We tried some really destructive spells on the room one night and Madara was horrified when he saw the place. We left for an hour and when we got back it was fine.

Sasuke and I entered the arena. Sasuke usually worked with his family magic because he wanted to improve and expand his skills as a medium. Because Sasuke had copied his knowledge about Danzo's family magic into my brain I usually practiced with that magic. Madara wanted us to be able to defend ourselves and maybe even take down Danzo. Right now I had a little trick up my sleeve. Madara helped me research into my family's magic a bit. Most mediums with healing abilities couldn't really use to defend themselves with. I was determined to find a way to defend myself with my family's magic.

I have learned a lot more spells now that have been recorded into my book and I've noticed something. The spells I use actually enhance something in the body in order to heal the person's illness. To me that means I can use my magic to manipulate my body and push myself to my limits. Madara didn't approve of the idea so I've been working on the spells in secret. It's taken me a lot of trial and error but I've started to really get the hang of it. Sasuke has been working on the fire attacks that his family seems to be fond of but he's been trying to work with electricity it looks like.

All we were really supposed to do here is practice. Every once in a while Madara would let us have a mock battle but that's it. Nothing really too risky. Right now though Madara wanted to see how well my healing abilities work and for that we need someone to get hurt. He saw back at the manor that burns don't seem to be an issue for me. We've tested that theory out a couple of times and burns of any size can be healed in seconds rather than days or weeks. He wanted to see how well cuts and broken bones would heal.

"If we're testing for cuts than I can't play guinea pig." Sasuke said. "I heal way too fast from normal injuries to be affected."

It was true; Sasuke had some really strange recovery rate. Any injury he sustained begins ti heal the moment it's made. The gun he had been shot with back in the manor had some weird affects on it. The spells that had been used were meant to be used on mediums most of the time. We're not completely sure if that's true but now he could take injuries that would kill most mediums. The only kinds of injuries that ever really harmed him were the kind that involved magic.

"So that means I'm getting hurt right?" I asked.

"Not if grandpa is willing to take a few hits." Sasuke answered. "I've already felt some really bad burns. I won't mind breaking my bones since it supposed to make them stronger."

"That doesn't mean you should be okay with getting hurt."

"You haven't been able to use your magic at all." Sasuke said louder than necessary. "That doesn't seem really fair to me since you became a medium more for my benefit than yours."

"I'd rather not use anyone as a test subject though." I responded. "Besides I've been working on something else."

"You mean the stuff Grandpa told you not to work on?" He asked quietly.

"Yes and I think I've almost perfected it." I told him.

"Want to show him that instead?" He asked.

I just nodded my head.

"So you want to try and fight me?" He asked.

"It might be the only way that we can truly test out the spells."

"As long as we can make Grandpa eat his words then it'll be worth it."

He turned away from me and looked at Madara.

"Grandpa, we're going to try and see if we can break my bones in a mock battle." He yelled.

"Don't do anything too dangerous okay." He responded.

"Got it." He said as he turned to face me.

I walked away from him. In these mock battles we usually stood about thirty feet from each other. Sasuke had his red book in his hand already opened. I opened my green book to the page I knew the spells were on. I know that the spells works. The real problem is knowing what the limit of the spell is. I had no idea where my limit was was but I was about to find out.

I watched as as Sasuke started to leaf through the pages quickly looking for the spell he wanted. I didn't want to give him an advantage so I started looking at my book for the spell I wanted.

The spell that I had been working on was near the very bottom of the page that I was looking at.

"Vires!" I yelled.

Sasuke had implanted his knowledge of spells back in Konoha but he had given me so much more then he knew. He had passed on his knowledge Latin which was the only language that spells could be written in. The spell itself took some time to take affect. What it did was give my body the strength it would during an adrenaline rush without actually having adrenaline pump through my veins. I started taking deep breaths to get my blood flooded with oxygen.

"Plenam flammis!" I heard Sasuke yell.

I looked over at Sasuke saw that his body was becoming engulfed in flames. It was his favorite way to fight. He had his arms spread and faced the ceiling as the flames engulfed his entire form. Every time he cast this spell he looked different to me. The look on the face looked almost at peace with the whole world. It was a very different from the Sasuke I had met in the Manor who sometimes looked like he was ready to kill someone.

"What the hell are you doing Sakura?" I heard Madara ask from the distance.

I just ignored him and I noticed that Sasuke smirked a little when he heard Madara.

"Ready to begin?" Sasuke asked.

I moved my arms around a bit. The motions that I used were more fluid and controlled then it normally would have looked without the spell. For now, that was a good sign. I nodded my head and he began to run straight towards me.

"Did either of you two hear me?!" I heard Madara yell.

He might as well be on mute because I knew that neither me nor Sasuke were going to listen to him.

"Inviolabilem fulgar." I muttered under my breath.

I felt heat wash all over my body after I muttered the spell. If it worked then Sasuke's flames should have no affect on me at all. I braced my self for a really nasty fist fight and charged at Sasuke.

Madara had shown me how to fight if I ever needed to defend myself without magic. Sasuke wanted to learn on his own at first before he asked for Madara's help. Even though we both had the same teacher we had developed different fighting styles. His movements reminded me of how a lightning bolt would move through the sky. He moved in a zigzag pattern to avoid long ranged attacks. He used his speed to enhance his kicks and punches.

I couldn't move as fast as him. At first I just tried to use my opponents weight against them but then I started developing my strength spell. I decided that I would sacrifice speed but not my agility. I built up my endurance over the past months and now I was enhancing my strength. I fought more brutally than Sasuke.

We met just a few feet away from the center of the arena and began to fight. At first he tried leaving little burns on my arms but he caught on that his flames were doing nothing to help him. I took advantage at his change of pace hand landed a blow right on his stomach. I heard the wind leave his lungs as he gasped for air but he refused to be thrown back.

I tried to land another hit but he recovered faster than I thought he would and blocked my punch with his arm. For him that turned out to be a bad thing. We both heard a loud crack come from his arm. The flames around his body disappeared and he fell to his knees.

I saw him grab his arm in pain. I heard Madara's footsteps come towards us but I didn't bother to look at him. I had to heal Sasuke's arm.

"Where's the pain coming from?" I asked.

"Right where your fist connected with my arm." He answered almost bitterly.

I put my hands over his arm. Madara had told us that if we could remember the condition or instructions of each spell then we didn't have to say the name of the spell. I concentrated on the spell that would set and heal Sasuke's bone if it was really broken. A green glow emitted from my palms for a few seconds. Sasuke's arm was done healing by the time the green glow had disappeared.

"What the hell did you do?" I heard Madara ask.

"Practicing a few spells that I've been working on." I explained to him.

"What did I say about experimenting with spells that you know nothing about?!"

"That we should consult with you before hand but you wouldn't let me create spells when I asked so I just ignored your rule and practiced in secret."

I watched as Sasuke moved his arm around a bit and move his fingers. Everything seemed to be fine for now.

"Well how else were we going to test her bone mending abilities?" Sasuke asked sarcastically. "You wanted her to practice healing and I can't heal from wounds that have been inflicted with magic. Sakura used a spell that wasn't too dangerous to hurt me so what the hell are you complaining about?"

"I'm complaining about the fact that Sakura completely disobeyed my rules." He said.

"Well sorry for trying to learn how to defend myself with my family's magic." I sneered at him.

He pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration.

"I just want to keep you from hurting yourself." He said.

"If I get hurt I can heal myself." I retorted.

"Not if your too busy screaming." he rebutted.

I really had nothing to counter that argument so I just shut my mouth.

"Sasuke why did you encourage her?" He asked.

"She hardly ever gets to use the powers given to her by her goddess." He answered. "I think if she wants to she should be allowed to. Grandpa she's been doing this for a while now. If she does keep doing this in secret then she might wind up getting hurt and we won't be there to help her."

Madara folded his arms and thought about what Sasuke had just said. We waited for five minutes in silence before he finally answered.

"Fine." He said. "Sakura you can create your own spells but you have to tell me what they're meant to do and how you intend to remove them since you seemed to cast a couple on yourself just moments before."

I smiled and hugged Madara. It was usually hard to get him to change his mind once it's been set.

"Next time you guys have a complaint please talk to me rather than pull some stupid stunt like you two just did." Madara said as he returned my hug. "Especially you Sasuke. You're the older one so set an example for her."

"Like she's going to listen to me." He said. "She still a child that only listens to adults and not her older peers."

"I listened to you back at the manor didn't I?" I countered.

He rolled his eyes at me. It was these moments that always made me smile. Our schedules didn't really differ much. This was just another normal day in Oto for me. The nightmare from last night still worried me though. Especially the image of the woman with the ax.

**A/N:If there are parts pf the story that seem confusing then please notify me. Your reviews are what keep me writing so please review. -Chojitsuna (TheGnRFangirl)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 1**

**A/N:Okay I updated this story again because it's the most popular. Hopefully you guys didn't wait too long for this chapter. -TheGnRFangirl**

Every week our schedule was the same for three weeks. During the weekdays Sasuke and I would spar with each other and I'd heal our wounds after every match so we could just keep on training relentlessly. The only reason we'd ever stop was because we had to sleep and rest our tired muscles. During the weekends Sasuke and I would go to our jobs so that Itachi could take the time to just rest and relax.

For a while it was nice to have that schedule but Sasuke and I both started to notice something. We were starting to read each others movements way too easily. I could see that Sasuke had his little quirks that allowed me to predict what his next move would be.

When he was going to use a fire based attack he made a gesture with his hands. When he wanted to use his lightning attacks I noticed that he would drag his feet just a little on the ground as if he were trying to create friction. He always stood still whenever he was going to engulf his body in flames so that was an easy one to see.

Sasuke had always been able to predict my moves because of his family's long lineage. The Uchiha's eye pattern developed into something that allowed them to see what their opponents movements and at certain times copy them if it was within their ability. It also allowed them to sense what kind of medium someone was or likely to become.

The thing was that he no longer needed his family's gift to predict my movements anymore. I had developed a few quirks when I used my magic. He could tell either by stance, hand movements, or the way I attacked him to predict my movement and spell.

I know that everyone has these weird habits that they can't get rid but we tried to anyway. Sasuke explained to me how he was able to predict my movements and I told him about his weird little quirks. We tried to hide the quirks but it wasn't possible. We knew each other too well now and couldn't kick the habits that we had developed.

I didn't really have any idea how we were going to get past this problem but Sasuke had been thinking about the problem ever since it came up. He always seemed to be thinking about his next move constantly and always looked for the best choice. I just tried to let my body fall into some sort of momentum and go with the flow.

He told me his idea on how to deal with the current problem that we faced. We learned pretty quickly that Madara was paying closer attention to what we said to each other during training but he couldn't watch us forever. He trusted us to be on our own when we went to work. He started to explain his idea during our break one Saturday afternoon.

The family restaurant here was a rarity in this city. There weren't that many here that many parents felt comfortable bring their children to. Where we worked they were more than happy to hire the two teenagers who were trying to help out their "ill" guardian. We'd given them a sob story when we came here looking for work. They believed all of it.

During our breaks we usually just walked around since we didn't eat anymore. Sasuke didn't like to waste time and today was no different. As soon as we were a few blocks away from the restaurant he told me his idea.

"Let's fight other mediums." He just blurted out as we walked.

"How do we do that without getting arrested and having Madara yell at us?" I asked him.

"The place where we train used to be used as an arena back in the old days."

"So? We can't just put an ad that says 'FIGHT US IN OUR SECRET LOCATION.'"

"We don't have to invite anyone to our location. There are still some underground fights that go on underneath the city. Their at night so we can easily sneak out."

"What makes you assume that I'm going to participate in this?"

"I'm assuming that you will because I'll go with or without you. If I go alone then I can easily surpass you as a fighter."

"We won't be able to sneak off at night."

"The fights don't usually last long. We can make it back before dawn."

"Madara's been checking our rooms since my nightmare."

Sasuke stopped walking when he heard this.

"How do you know this?" he asked me.

"He woke me up on accident when he came to my room." I explained. "He's just making sure that no one is going to kill us in our sleep. The nightmare I had has him really paranoid."

"Speaking of that did you ever remember who the red haired woman was?"

"I actually forgot about her. I don't think she's really significant."

"If she's part of the nightmare then she's significant."

"Weren't we talking about sneaking out?"

"Grandpa can somewhat tell the difference between a clone and a real person so we can't use that spell. If we sneak out without the car he might think that we're nearby and won't be able to find us."

"That seems like something I'd come up with. I doubt that will work."

"Then what's your suggestion? I'd love to hear it if you have a better idea."

"Madara told us not to pull any stupid stunts remember? If we discuss it with him maybe he'll agree."

"Suppose he says no. He'll know where we'll try and run off to and will make it harder for us to try our idea. If we do this now then we can show him that it's a good idea and that we can take care of ourselves."

"Somehow I think you just want to defy Madara."

"And I think that you're scared of getting in trouble. I've thought this through for a while now. It can work and we won't get in trouble. If we do then I'll take the blame okay? I'm the older one anyway so he'll blame me anyway."

"I'm not scared of getting in trouble and I know that you've been thinking about it. You always think about everything for an eternity before you do something that can be either reckless or just plain stupid."

"Hey, nothing I do is stupid and if you're not scared of getting in trouble then why don't you want to come with me? What's bothering you?"

"I just want to be sure that you looked at all the possibilities before we jump into this. What about your brother Itachi? Shouldn't he be a factor to?"

"I don't think we should worry about him unless he's checking our beds with grandpa."

"Fine you win. When do we sneak out?"

"I want to talk strategy first."

I rolled my eyes when he said that. He was starting to over think things now. I understand that we have to prove to Madara that this was a good idea but not everything was going to happen perfectly. I thought we both learned that lesson back in the Uchiha Manor. Neither of us expected to see Madara or Itachi appear in the Manor. We didn't think that anyone was still trying to destroy the Uchiha clan. I didn't really want to argue with Sasuke anymore though. I just wanted to go back to work since our break was probably close to being over.

After work ended at six we made an alteration to the whole idea. We were just not going to go back home. We had about ten minutes before Madara would actually start to worry and come looking for us. The fights took place down in the sewer system in arenas similar to the place where we trained. The sign ups for the fights took place in the day so it was good thing that we weren't going home until later tonight.

We decided to go use the alleyways rather than the side walk to lower our chances of getting caught. We kept looking over our shoulders every once in a while though to make sure that we weren't being followed or chased. This wouldn't have bothered me much if we didn't have to walk so far to the abandoned part of the city. I don't know exactly how our destination was since Sasuke was the on who took the lead. The alleyways shortened the walk but only a little. The walk felt like an hour to me but I was only guessing. I didn't really bother to carry my phone anymore since all I ever used it for was to check the time. There was nobody for me to really call or text so I never bothered with the bill anymore.

As we neared the less populated areas of the city I started to hear the footsteps of other people around us. The alleyways in this city magnified most noises so it was easy to hear things in here. I started to walk a little closer to Sasuke out of fear. The last thing I wanted was to get jumped by street gang in alley. I know that we could easily take them on but would we use our magic or make a run for it? I wasn't curious enough to find out so I walked ahead of Sasuke.

He grabbed my arm to get my attention and I looked straight at him.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Don't you hear the other foot steps?" I asked uncertain of my sanity now.

"It's just other mediums." He stated. "They won't attack out here above ground. We only need to watch our backs once we get into the sewer system."

"Thanks for the reassurance." I told him sarcastically.

He just smirked a little bit and walked ahead of me again. I know he told me not to be on the lookout just yet but I Wanted to see who was walking around us.

I still didn't see anyone behind us at all and wondered if Sasuke was only "playing" along with me. I was about to give up on my sanity when I noticed something fall from above so I looked. There was nothing there at first but I noticed that I could see a face or the top of someone's head every once in a while. Who ever was around us decided to run on the roof rather than walk on the ground. I wonder why they were doping that.

"The entrance to where we want to go is in one of these buildings." Sasuke told me. "I didn't really want to talk with any of them so we're taking the lower route for now."

"Out of curiosity; can you read my mind?" I asked only half serious.

I saw a smirk playing on his face but he kept himself composed. We only walked about five more minutes before Sasuke decided we needed to go up to the roof tops. He climbed up on one of the fire escapes that were in the alley and made his way to the roofs. I followed him quickly because I didn't want to be alone in the alley way. Sasuke waited for me at the top. I noticed that a few of the other mediums were watching us.

I got the feeling that a majority of them were veterans of the arena fights. They didn't have the eyes of killers though. No one died in the arena anymore because it would be pointless to spill blood over nothing. The wars between medium families had supposedly died down hundreds of years ago. Very few families feuded anymore. The spells that were used in the arenas could cause some very serious injuries though.

I didn't see anyone that looked like they might be new to the arena like me and Sasuke and that made me extremely nervous. I know that my spells all work so far but I was still nervous about using them in front of others. I would be the first healer who could us my family's magic for things other than healing. I had no idea how people would react at all.

I kept following Sasuke though. I'd come his far and I didn't want to just abandon Sasuke after I agreed to help him.

"So where are we supposed to go from here?" I asked.

"There's an old stairway up ahead that's always left open." Sasuke explained. "It'll lead to some underground passages."

"How did you find out about this again?"

"I overheard someone talking about it."

"Yeah right." I muttered.

Of course he wasn't lying about the stairway or the passages. We went in with everyone else. I tried to act like I wasn't nervous but my hands wouldn't stop shaking so I put them in my pockets. The stairway wasn't as narrow as the passages. It was obvious that someone created the passages down here with magic but they were so narrow that we all had to walk in a line. I was still behind Sasuke the whole time but AI didn't dare look behind me. I just kept looking forward and acted like this was no big deal. This place didn't give off any bad signals; despite its appearance; so there was nothing to really worry about.

Eventually the passage became wider and I was able to next to Sasuke again. He looked in my direction for a second and just kept moving forward. We just walked for probably five more minuted before a familiar scent drifted to my nose. It was the scent that came only from the sewers of this city. The scent wasn't overwhelming which meant that wherever we were heading it was bone dry like the place we had made our training grounds. It took some time before we were out of the make shift passage way and in the sewer.

Down here everything seemed to echo around us. I could even pick out random words that the others were muttering. A majority of them were talking about me and Sasuke. Because I could only hear the random words that they muttered too loudly every once in a while I couldn't really figure out what they were talking about.

Right now my biggest concerns at the moment were Madara and Itachi. Would they be able to find us? Would they even bother to look in the arenas that were underground or did they think that Sasuke and I had been kidnapped? I felt guilty for doing this to them but I didn't want Sasuke to come down here alone. Specially since if I look around a majority if the people here were in pairs or small groups.

"Are we almost there?" I asked Sasuke.

He only nodded yes. He didn't turn his head in my direction. He just kept looking forward. I looked in the direction he was and noticed a huge opening up ahead. It looked about the size of the door that was in front of our training grounds. I knew that was where the fights were going to be held.

"Start taking in deeper breaths when our fight is about to start." I whispered to Sasuke.

"Why?" He asked.

"It'll get more oxygen to your blood." I explained. "I do it when we train so I can keep up with you."

"Have you been trying to create a spell for that?"

"Yes and it's not done."

"Okay."

We walked right through the entrance and I was amazed by how big the room actually was. The ceiling was the same height as our training grounds. The area where the fights was a perfect circle and it was about seventy feet in diameter. The area where people could spectate the battles added about another thirty feet to forty feet to the diameter of this place.

"Are you two new to this place?" I heard a male voice ask.

I turned in the direction of the voice since I knew that we were probably the only newbies here. The guy who was talking to us The man talking to us had dark brown eyes and hair. He wore a bandana on his head and had what looked like a senbon acupuncture needle in his mouth.

"We're new to this city." Sasuke answered.

"I suggest you get to the stands now if you want to see the fights." He told us.

"We're here to fight not watch."

"Really?" he crossed his arms in disbelief. "What makes you think that I'm going to let too high school lovers fight in this arena?"

"First, we are not high school lovers. Second, are you really the on I charge of the fights here?"

"I am the referee and the announcer for this arena. I don't own the place at all but I do control who gets to fight and who doesn't. Now try to give me a reason why I should let two puppies like you fight."

I heard growl a bit in the back of his throat. I grabbed his arm in case I had to restrain him. I know that he hates being treated like a child. I guess that's what happens to you when you've been alive for so long. Sasuke only looked seventeen but I knew that he has been around much longer than that.

"We've been trained in combat already." I explained to the guy. "We both know how to use jinxes Sasuke's family is made up of mostly attackers who love to use fire based spells. I'm just a healing medium and the first in my family."

"You two seriously think you can handle the arenas?" He asked us. "There may be no more deaths in these fights but people can get seriously hurt. How well can you heal?"

"Well enough to keep us both safe." I answered.

"Fine." He said with a sigh. "You two can fight."

He pulled out a peace of paper and pen then handed it to us.

"Write both of your names on this paper." He said. "You cannot bring your books into the arena by the way. There's a chance they'll get destroyed so don't keep them with you."

I was so glad that we didn't bring our books with us at the moment. I saw Sasuke write down his name fast and beautifully. There was an elegant flourish to his writing that I envied a bit. My handwriting wasn't messy but it was as beautiful as Sasuke's. Sasuke handed me both paper and pen.

"Write down the name that's on your book." Sasuke instructed.

"I already told you though; my last name is Senju not Haruno." I told him.

"I know that's what you told me but the names that's printed on the book is your actual birth name." Sasuke told me. "On my book it has all the names of the Uchiha who've used it before me including grandpa and Itachi's names. Besides, grandpa said that the Senju were another medium family from the old days like the Uchiha."

"My mother never told me I was adopted though!" I yelled at him.

"Keep your voice down unless you want every one to stare at us." He said quietly. "Your mother may not have told you anything so you could be happy. I don't know if this is hard on you or not but you need to write down Sakura Haruno. Please, I'm not asking a lot from you right now."

The thing was; it wasn't hard on me at all. I easily wrote down my "real" name on the paper that the man gave us. I know I probably should have been arguing about my with Sasuke . The guy who owns this about this but it didn't seem to matter to me at all. Sasuke handed it back to the man.

"Thank you for your cooperation." He told us. "For future meetings, my name is Genma okay. The opponents are chosen at random so don't expect to ever be evenly matched with your opponent."

"Would mind not mentioning our last names?" Sasuke asked.

"We never say the last names here. It's for safety reasons. We just need your full names on this in case of death."

He put his hand in his pocket and brought out two black bracelets.

"Wear these every time you come here." Genma instructed. "They'll glow when your names are called. Any questions?"

"How many deaths occur in the arena?"

"About one every year. We have fights everyday of the year."

"Good to know. Where can we wait?"

"Out here until the matches start. Go and make friends or something." With those final words Genma walked off.

Genma didn't just walk into the crowd. It looked more like he became a part of the crowd and disappeared. I kept staring in wonder in the direction that he left in. I felt someone's hand touch my shoulder. I turned to look at Sasuke.

"Let's find a quiet area in here."Sasuke said to me. "I want to see if I can locate Grandpa and Itachi."

"Want me to help?" I asked.

"Yeah, try to locate Itachi. I'll focus on grandpa."

There was a small area where people were just listening to iPods and MP3's. No one would notice us too much in this group.

Sasuke crossed his arms and closed his eyes; I mimicked his pose. It was a spell from the Uchiha books. It was a some what tricky spell because it required you to concentrate on what the person looked like and the spell itself. It was originally meant to be used to find out where one's enemy was hiding but it gave the user a really bad migraine after use. I had a spell to cure migraines so it held little consequence for me or Sasuke. Mediums can learn any kind of magic but if it was different from their family's magic it would be harder to learn. Sasuke had the advantage because he had learned jinxes before he even opened his family's book so he could use either magic with ease. Sasuke implanted his knowledge of jinxes in my head before I used my family's magic so those spells were easy to learn. Sasuke's family magic was harder to learn because the energy I felt when I used it always felt wrong. I had to concentrate to use this spell.

"Quaero reperire adjuvet." We said in unison.

In my head I pictured Itachi sitting on the couch in the morning right before he went off to work every week day. It was an easy enough image to hold onto as concentrated on the spell. I had to focus on finding him as I kept the image of his face in my mind.

I could see a familiar alley way that he was running through. He was wearing a pair of navy blue jeans and a black shirt. I tried to focus on the alley that he was in. I'd seen it somewhere recently but I couldn't put my finger on it until I saw him climb up a fire escape. My eyes snapped open; I couldn't hold on to the spell any longer.

I looked at Sasuke and saw that he was still concentrating on the spell. I decided that I would snap him out of it so I stepped on his foot. His eyes opened slowly as if he were expecting to be pulled out of the spell like that.

"Madara is looking around the more crowded side of the city so we're safe from him." Sasuke stated. "Where's Itachi?"

"Climbing the same fire escape that we did to get here." I answered. "If what you say is true then we're not in too much trouble."

"I don't think they would have gone this far from each other if Itachi couldn't contact grandpa."

"Then let's make sure he doesn't see us until we fight."

"How much longer until the sun sets?"

"It won't set until eight." I told him. "It's starting to get dark out there so hopefully the fights will start soon."

"I heard that they start as soon as the sun sets."

"I'd guess that it's going to start in a few minutes."

We both looked towards the entrance. Sooner or later Itachi was going to come through that opening that was now smaller than it was earlier. Maybe Itachi wouldn't even make it let alone Madara.

Sadly Itachi did and his eyes immediately met mine. How could we have noticed each other through the many people between us? It didn't matter I had to tell Sasuke.

"He's here and he saw me." I told Sasuke.

"It doesn't matter." Sasuke responded. "The entrance closed already."

I looked at the door and sure enough the door really was closed and at least there was no sign of Madara. I noticed that Sasuke was concentrating on the searching spell again. I watched as Itachi started walking right towards us. Since I knew that we weren't in any trouble yet I smiled and waved at him. Of course that pissed him off and he started walking faster.

"I think grandfather is going back to the apartment angry." Sasuke told me. "I think they're communicating with a spell since grandpa can use his magic."

"Well Itachi looks happy to see us." I said sarcastically.

He looked towards Itachi who was still heading in our direction. I doubt he would yell at us at all since he tended to be very calm and quiet most of the time but I knew that he was really mad by the look in his eyes. His face didn't really give away how mad he was exactly but from the fire in his eyes I think Sasuke and I might have crossed a line.

Itachi stopped right in front of us and looked a both of us. I think he was trying to figure out if either me or Sasuke were injured.

"What the hell are you two trying to accomplish here?" He asked us.

"Why are you even here?" Sasuke countered.

"I'm here because you two didn't come back to the apartment and your books were still in your rooms."

"What does our books being left at home have anything to do with anything right now?"

"I know you don't have every single spell memorized. If someone had kidnapped you then how would you escape."

"By using the spells I already know."

"What if that wasn't enough? Remember that you can't go around using every single spell that you know."

"I know that. I also know that grandpa wants us to learn how to fight. Sakura and I already know each others quirks because we practice every day with each other. We need more opponents and this is the place to find some."

"You could have at least told me. I know grandpa is looking out for you two but I also know that he can be overly protective. Please, I want you two to trust me. If I had known about this plan of yours then I would have lead grandpa on a wild goose chase or something."

"Yeah right; I bet you already told him where we are."

"No he thinks that I found you two entering a bar."

I wanted to slap Itachi right there. What the fuck was he thinking? Instead of slapping him like I wanted to I just kicked his shin. I saw him wince a little bit and then he stared right at me.

"And what exactly is your excuse?" He asked. "You see me coming over hear angry and your reaction is to wave as if nothing is wrong? I don't remember you ever being this much of a trouble maker."

"I wasn't letting Sasuke come here on his own." I said defensively. "Besides, we're practically trapped with you and Madara all the time that it gets annoying. Like right now it feels nice to be away from him and just feel free."

"If that's how you felt then why didn't you talk to anyone about this?"

"There was a high chance that Madara would have said no and then he'd be keeping a closer eye on us. I think Madara's become a bit paranoid since I had my nightmare."

Itachi grabbed the bridge of his nose in frustration. He probably didn't really enjoy having to deal with us right now.

"Madara is going to realize I lied to him soon because I did cut off the connection spell when I came down this alley." Itachi stated. "I'll try and talk to him when we ge back to the apartment just make a promise both of you."

"Depends." Sasuke said. "What is the promise?"

" Promise me that you two will win and and lat least inform me so I don't have a heart attack."

Itachi's wasn't asking for much and it's the first time he's ever asked anything of us. I held out my pinky to him.

"I promise." I told him.

He looked at me with a smile playing his face before he wrapped his pinky around mine. I looked over at Sasuke. He had his arms crossed and didn't seem like he wanted budge at all. In the end he and Itachi shook hands on it.

"All Noncombatants make your way to the spectators area now." We heard an amplified voice say. "Anyone waiting for a fight please line up on the circumference of the arena."

A majority of the crowd had already started moving when Genma had started talking.

"I'll be right behind you two okay." Itachi told us. "Just remember to win."

As Itachi started to walk away I remember having the sudden urge to cry. I think it was because this was something that never would have happened in my old life in Konoha with my friends.

**A/N: So what'd you think? Please tell me in a review. -TheGnRFangirl**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 2**

**A/N: Ok I have to apologize for my long absence again. I didn't mean to make anyone wait so long. I have to concentrate on getting into college and marching/concert band. **

We stood among the other mediums that were participating in the fights tonight and I noticed a lot of them were watching Sasuke and me. Was it really because we were newbies or was there something that I didn't know about? It was hard to ignore their stares since they were all around us. There was a small wall that separated us from the spectators.

All of us were standing up straight around the circumference of the arena. The barrier that protected the audience came out just enough to keep us safe as well but only if we were standing up straight. We couldn't sit down unless we wanted to risk getting hurt by a stray spell or debris. From what I could see there were about thirty two of us. If these fights were setup as tournament style fights then this would be a long night. I was new to this so I didn't really know what to expect at this point. I'm sure Sasuke knew exactly what was going to happen since he had done research into these fights.

I saw Genma walk into the middle of the arena with a box in his hand. I could easily see the pieces of paper that had everyone's name on it. He stopped at the very enter of the arena. He pointed his finger at his throat for a second and then let his hand fall to his side.

"Welcome everyone." Genma said, his voice amplified by the spell. "Today we have a nice treat for all of you. Tonight we'll have two veterans of this arena return and we have some fresh blood in here as well. Our veterans are in disguise at this moment but the newbies stick out pretty well."

As he said that his gaze turned at us. I heard Sasuke make a low growl in his throat. I wanted to hit that Genma guy myself. Now everyone would want to fight us.

"Let's hope they have what it takes to fight here or else it'll be a boring night." Genma said. "We'll keep the tradition going meaning Sasuke and Sakura are the first to fight."

He motioned for us to go over to him. Sasuke took the lead and walked in front of me. I stayed behind him. I felt nervous as we walked but I tried to keep my cool. Genma placed his fingers on his throat where his Adam's apple was and kept them there as spoke to us.

"I forgot to ask if you two were a team or fighting individually." He told us. "Which is it?"

"We're a team." I told him.

"You're going to regret that decision right now." He said before he let his hand fall to his side. "Since they are a team and can't fight each other we will follow tradition and have them fight against some more experienced members. Perhaps our veteran team want to test out the fledglings?"

I suddenly felt a bit sick. This was not going to be an easy fight. I heard a pair of foot steps coming towards us. Both figures were hidden under cloaks. There were a couple of other mediums here dressed like that so it wasn't too strange. The two figures were roughly the same height. The walked past us and stood across from us.

"Would you two mind showing your appearance to our newbies?" Genma asked politely.

"Why don't you stop calling us newbies." I muttered to myself; it was getting a little annoying.

In response the two figures threw their cloaks towards the circumference of the arena. When I saw how they looked I gasped. I'd met one of them once as a child and had only heard rumors about the other one.

The one I recognized wore circular glasses in order to see. He had ash-gray hair that was tied up in a ponytail. He was wearing a white lab coat over his dark clothing. I had met him as a child when I had gone into "The Snake Man's" house with my friends. His name was Dr. Kabuto Yakushi. The man standing next to him was the Snake man I had heard about as a child. He had hair that went down to his waist and was extremely pale. His features didn't really show his age; just like my mother; but that's probably because he's a medium. His eyes were amber with slits in his pupils and purple markings around his eyes; no wonder people started rumors about him. He was Dr. Orochimaru and was infamous in Konoha.

"Nice to see you again Sakura." Dr. Yakushi said to me. "I see your arm healed pretty well after you broke it."

"You two can socialize later." Genma said. "Do both teams accept the challenge?"

"Of course we do Genma." Orochimaru answered; even his voice was snake-like.

Genma looked at me and Sasuke.

"What about you two?" He asked."Remember there's no shame in backing out right now."

"We accept the challenge." Sasuke answered.

"Both teams please bow to your opponent."

All four of us bowed. Sasuke and I as newcomers had to bow so low that our foreheads almost touched the floor. I doubted that Orochimaru and Kabuto bowed much if they did at all.

"Stand about thirty feet from each other." Genma instructed.

We did as we were told and moved away from each other. As we walked away from the others I noticed that Genma was leaving the area of combat. He stood in the circumference of the combat area with the other mediums. I turned around with Sasuke to face our opponent when I thought that we had walked fifteen feet. They were both standing casually as if this were nothing. Sasuke was to my left and I could see that he was tense. He had both of his fists clenched and I could see the muscles in his jaws moving. His eyes were glowing red which indicated he was ready to use a spell.

"You may begin combat now!" We heard Genma yell.

In that moment everything started to speed up. Sasuke got in front of me as I started to think of a spell. I heard Sasuke mutter one of his spells. His whole body was engulfed in flames. I had probably less than a second to react now.

"Vires." I muttered to myself.

I found out a few weeks back that this spell did have some limits. The spell did have a time limit and I couldn't use it on other people. The spell wore off after ten minutes and it wouldn't work again right away because my muscles had to have time to recover. It took twenty minuted for me to recover from the spell. I doubt the fight would last long though.

I took my position to Sasuke's right just in time to meet Kabuto's attack head on. He was using his hands as if they were blades. My instincts told me not to make contact with his hands. I was holding him back pretty easily at the moment. He looked at me confused because he was trying to push my arm with all of his strength but of course nothing happened. I kicked him in the stomach to get him away from me.

I could hear the air being forced out of his lungs when my foot connected with his stomach. He staggered back wards but refused to fall down. I was about to go after him when Sasuke pulled me back just as a very large snake tried to bite me in the place I had just been standing in. Sasuke had grabbed me by my left arm while the flames burned around him. There was enough pain to make me cry out in pain. Sasuke let me go immediately.

"Inviolabilem ad ignis." I muttered.

I probably should have activated that spell in the beginning but I could only use it so much before the spell would start to become ineffective. I looked at the area where Sasuke had grabbed me. Some of my skin burned away and what was left started blistering a bit and looked black. The flesh that was normally protected by skin was exposed and red. There was still pain in that area which was a good sign.

Sasuke took up a defensive position in front of me. He was giving me time to heal. I placed my right hand over the burned area.

"Tollis ardere" I muttered.

The pain started to go away. I could Sasuke muttering to himself as he tried to keep the other two back. When my injury was healed I stood up behind him. I heard people in the crowd gasp when I stood up. I noticed that Orochimaru gave me a strange look as well. I remembered that back in the Uchiha Manor Madara had mentioned that most mediums couldn't heal themselves or others this fast. I don't know if it was a bad thing that I had healed but I had to help Sasuke out now.

"Kabuto!" Orochimaru yelled.

"Understood." Kabuto replied.

Kabuto headed straight for me now. I started thinking about the spells that came from the black books. Some of them would be great in this fight.

"Carcere!" I yelled.

A cage appeared out of nowhere and trapped Kabuto inside of it. At least he was put of the equation for now and all we had to deal with was Orochimaru. Sasuke was actually holding him back pretty easily but his spell would go out soon. The spell itself would only last a minute. The flames around his body started to shrink in size indicating that he was losing time. Orochimaru was keeping his distance right now. He had a snake wrapped around him that seemed to act as his shield. I looked over at Sasuke. He looked at me and made a motion with his eyes. I knew what he wanted me to do.

I used the extra power in my legs to increase my speed and charged at Orochimaru. His snake immediately took notice of me and tried to bite me. I smacked the snake away and head towards Orochimaru. He got read to take me on but I ran past him. I turned around and kicked Orochimaru in the back and towards Sasuke.

"Move!" Sasuke yelled.

I got out of the spot where I was as Sasuke yelled out his next spell.

"Lamina fulgur!" He yelled.

Lightening shot out of his hand and straight at Orochimaru. There wasn't enough charge for it to be fatal but it wasn't easy to recover from either. We all heard Orochimaru shout out in pain and hear the sound of metal breaking. I looked towards Kabuto and saw that he was out of his cage. I forgot to mute Kabuto he wouldn't be able to escape.

I started to go after him when I heard a someone fall on the floor; most likely Orochimaru. I was going to just try and hit him but he noticed. He managed to barely touch my hand. Normally that shouldn't have done anything but I felt a sharp pain there. It felt like my hand had just been crushed by a brick. I was about to heal when I felt something wrap around my ankle. Before I could looked down I started to get pulled across the floor.

I looked at my leg and saw that it was s snake that was coming out of Orochimaru's sleeves. He was dragging me closer and closer to him. To my left I could hear Sasuke casting different fire spells at Kabuto but from the way he was starting to shout I doubt that he was doing well. I tried to kick the snake bu it was big mistake. I felt its fangs go into my calf and I screamed. When I looked back at my leg I noticed that I was very close to Orochimaru. I felt another snake start to wrap around my neck and cut off my oxygen supply. I tried clawing at the snake but that nothing to help me. From what I could hear; Sasuke was still fighting with Kabuto. I did the only other thing that cam to my head; play dead.

I let my body go limp and started to close my eyes. If I didn't struggle too much than that should save my oxygen supply. It wasn't easy to do and I didn't have much air in lungs left anyway. The rest of the world felt distant as I concentrated on keeping still. It felt like an eternity before the snake let go of my neck. I took tiny breaths; not enough to relieve my lungs of the pain they ere feeling but enough that I wouldn't pass out. I heard Orochimaru step past me and head closer to Sasuke. I assumed his snake was with him so I waited until he had taken seven steps away from me. As soon as I heard the seventh step I opened my eyes and started taking in deeper breaths. I moved my head to see what had happened to Sasuke.

From what I was able to see; he was being pinned to the floor by Kabuto. He looked like he was trying to fight back but he couldn't really move much. Orochimaru's legs blocked most of my view which blocked me from Kabuto's gaze. I slowly started to get up so I wouldn't make any noise for a few seconds. I could hear a slow murmur running through the crowd as I stood up. I started running straight at Orochimaru. He was probably able to hear my foot steps as I ran because he turned around just in time for my fist to connect with his face. I put all of my strength into that punch by not only using my arm to carry the momentum but my whole body as well.

It was hard enough to send Orochimaru flying towards Kabuto. I almost laughed a little when they collided but I was still in a battle with them. I went to Sasuke and helped him get on his feet.

"You hanging in there?" He asked.

"Yeah." I responded.

"We have to end this quick."

"Any ideas then?"

"Yeah stay behind me and do not mention this to my grandfather."

I took a step back and but kept my fighting stance just in case. I had no idea what his plan was but something told me it was risky.

"Flammarum!" He yelled.

He fell to his knees in pain as he uttered the spell. Black flames erupted onto the arena as he fell. There was something strange about these flames. The way they moved was as if they were alive. Sasuke was moving his hands to control the flames but he was in pain; every labored breath he took could only hide some of his pain and I could see blood falling from his face. I wasn't going to let him suffer.

"Torpens." I muttered as I wrapped my hands around his head.

His breathing relaxed a bit but he kept controlling the flames. He was move the flames around Orochimaru and Kabuto. He wasn't trying to hit them at all; he was trapping them. Orochimaru seemed to noticed this because he launched his snakes at us. Some of them weren't much bigger then garden snakes while two of them towered over us.

The black flames were moving kind of slow. It was probably because they weren't easy to control. They were slowly encasing Orochimaru and Kabuto in a dome of black flames but the snakes were getting ready to strike us.

"I'm sorry Sasuke." I said as I let go of him.

I tried to keep the snakes at bay but I could only handle one of the giants. The other one went straight towards Sasuke. I heard him grunt when the snake hit him. I could see now that the blood was coming from his left eye. The flames he'd been controlling had disappeared after Sasuke was hit. I was going to rush over to him when I felt something tug on my right arm. I looked at it and saw that a snake had wrapped around it and tried to restrain me. I tried to get free but I stopped moving when I noticed that the giant want was starting to coil around me. I tried my best to hold still but it was useless. I could hear Orochimaru chuckling a bit as the snake surrounded me. He was probably communicating with the snake somehow.

I couldn't move anymore. My body was frozen in fear as I stared up at the snake. It's head almost touched the ceiling of this place.

"Sakura move!" I heard a voice yell.

I wanted to listen to that voice but the snake's eyes kept me in place. It wouldn't let me go. I was trapped in its gaze. All I could manage was a single step back. I could hear someone laughing at me Was I really being that ridiculous? Should I try and run? How long has it been since the fight started? It felt like an eternity to me.

"Two minutes!" I heard the same voice yell.

I didn't understand what that meant at all? Was that how long the fight has taken or how much time I had left? In my fear I couldn't even register who's voice that was. I could myself getting crushed as the snake wrapped around me and start crushing me.

"Do something!" I heard a different voice yell.

Were the voices yelling at me? What could I do now that I was getting the air forced out of my lungs? It hurt so much right now; all I wanted to do was pass out and escape. I shut my eyes and tried to wait it out but it hurt.

"Don't either of you give up!" I heard the second voice yell again.

Could I get out of this mess? There was no spell in my book that could help now unless I tried to actually move. Did I have enough strength to overpower the snake or was that just wishful thinking? I tried to move a little bit but there was too much pressure.

"Your going to lose!" The second voice yelled. "I thought you two wanted to prove that you could stand your own ground. Should I tell grandfather that you two still need to be watched?"

Now I recognized the second voice. It was Itachi who was yelling; well scolding us. Did he know of a spell that could help us win? What was it then?

It had to be in the Danzo's book if he was scolding both of us. What spell could help us now?

"Choream mille laminis" I heard the first voice mutter weakly.

I heard the giant snake hiss in anger as it dropped me. My head cleared up when I opened my eyes. I looked at the snake and saw that it had been cut with a blade multiple times. Sasuke had muttered the spell to save me then. I looked at the other snake and saw that his body was starting to slump over.

"Cultris." I yelled.

The spell conjured up multiple knives that went straight at the other snake's body. This spell would have killed anyone but to these giants it was barely enough to get them angry. The snake dropped Sasuke who just fell to the floor. I ran straight towards him and narrowly dodged the other snake's attack.

He just laid on the floor in exhaustion. I helped his feet and faced the snakes. I noticed that Orochimaru and Kabuto were now riding the snakes; when did that happen?

"Do the healing spell on my head again." Sasuke told me. "Don't let go this time until I tell you to."

"Got it." I told him as I grabbed his head. "Torpens."

"Flammarum!"

This time he encased us in the flame dome but instead of trapping us he was enlarging it slowly. This time Orochimaru wouldn't be able to send his snakes after us. The snakes that Orochimaru and Kabuto were riding were being consumed by the flames. We didn't hear Orochimaru or Kabuto scream which meant that they got off the snakes.

"I'm going to force them onto the edge of the arena." Sasuke told me. "They'd have no way to escape at all. You can knock them out as soon as I tell you to let go."

I could only nod my head in response. By now our fire dome was about the size of the arena meaning that soon I'd have to move.

"Orochimaru is to our left. Get him first." Sasuke said. "Once he's out I'll take care of Kabuto."

Again I nodded my head.

"Go now.'"he said.

I kept my hands on him as long as I could before I let go of him.

"How much time has passed?" I asked Sasuke as I ran.

"Barely over two minutes." He responded.

The strength and fire protection spell was still active then. I smiled a little bit as I ran closer and closer to Orochimaru. Our first battle in the arena would end in victory. I tried my best not to smile but I couldn't help it much. This fight should have been impossible but we were going to pull it off.

As I neared the edge of the fire where I could see Orochimaru's figure; I started to get ready to punch him with all of my strength. My fist exited the wall of fire first and I could hear the entire crowd gasp when I came out unharmed. I was able to actually hit Orochimaru in the stomach.

"Ostende mihi quomodo knocu eum foras." I muttered.

There was a certain area on Orochimaru's neck that stood out to me for a second. Trusting my spell I hit him right there a with the side of my hand and he just fell to the floor.

"Sasuke!" I yelled.

The flames disappeared and I could see Kabuto making his way for Sasuke. Sasuke looked like he was getting ready to do a lightning spell because I could see him dragging his feet a bit. Just as Sasuke started to mutter his spell Kabuto just completely passed him and made his way towards me. I didn't waste time and just ran towards him. His target was now me.

Kabuto's hands glowed as red as his eyes for a second before they looked normal. He was to close for me to get out of the way so I just tried to hit him first. I felt one of his hand brush my right thigh and then felt an extreme amount of pain. My right leg wouldn't support my weight anymore so I just fell to the floor as I cried out in pain.

"Get away from her!" I heard Sasuke yell when I felt Kabuto hit me behind the neck the same way I had done to Orochimaru.

My world started to darken quickly and I couldn't remember what I was doing anymore. I just fell into the peaceful darkness and slept...

**Sasuke's POV**

What had just happened? All I saw Kabuto do was touch her and she fell to the in pain. And then he knocked her out. I started to growl in the back of my throat a bit. I was angry at Kabuto and maybe at myself. Sakura wasn't supposed to get hurt at all. I was going to take every one of her hits because I knew she could heal me if it was anything serious and because I was practically indestructible now. I was going to make the four-eyed freak who was staring at me with a smirk pay ten-fold for hurting Sakura.

"What's wrong with you?" He asked mockingly. "Are you upset because I hurt your little girlfriend?"

I didn't know how to really respond to that one. Sakura was not my girlfriend at all. I just didn't feel that way about her and I doubt she even likes me at all. I am the one who ruined her small town life after all. I was in her debt because I wouldn't be out here free of the chains from the manor if it weren't for her. Now I felt like I owed her more. I can see it in her eyes when we train sometimes. She looks like she wants to break down and just cry her heart out sometimes, but instead she just puts on that brave act of hers and acts like nothing is wrong.

I decided not to answer Kabuto's stupid question and to just finish him off and I knew the perfect way. I bit my thumb hard enough to draw blood and let it drip to the floor. I forced out nine drops of blood around me.

Kabuto looked confused as I did this. This wasn't a spell that would normally take place in an arena because of the long set up but it didn't matter because Kabuto was just watching and observing me as if I were a lab rat or something.

"" I said out loud.

Nine clones of myself appeared around me. They all looked the same but didn't exactly match me. They wore nothing but black clothing that was kind of ripped. They each had piercings on and chains hanging off of them and they all looked extremely angry. I gave them a lot of my own knowledge but I think the thought of Sakura being injured dominated most of their thoughts. They all reminded me of a pack of rottweilers.

"Get him." I said as I pointed at Kabuto.

They all just ran straight at him and stared attacking like madmen. Thee was really no thought behind their attacks; they just tried to punch and kick Kabuto with no rhyme or reason to their actions.

Kabuto was able to dodge their attacks with ease but it gave me time to think about my next move.

I knew I could control the amount of volts that my lightning attacks used so that would probably work best.

Just as I was about to prepare the spell I heard my own scream come from in front of me. Kabuto was actually killing my clones without mercy. All he was really doing was touching them where I knew certain vital organs were and they would fall to the floor in pain and just die. I was horrified a bit because it reminded me of the clone I killed in the manor to leave as bait for Danzo. When each of the died they would look right at me with eyes that should belong on children. Their eyes would be wide in fear and there were tears in their eyes as they cried out in pain. They were afraid to die but I could not comfort them now. I had to take care of Kabuto.

"lamina fulgur" I muttered under my breath as I pointed my arm right at Kabuto.

I felt energy surge through my body as it started to concentrate in my arm and shot out as lightning. Kabuto easily dodged my attack so I got on the floor and guided the lightning on the ground.

Kabuto wasn't able to outrun it and was shocked. I increased the number of volts just a little bit before I stopped the spell. Kabuto just fell to the floor with a thud. I cautiously walked over to him and saw that e was out cold. I then made my way to where Sakura had been laying and picked her up off the floor. I was holding her bridal style because it was easier to carry her that way.

"It looks like Sasuke and Sakura win their very first fight!" I hear Genma announce. "You two may enter the spectator zone and watch the rest of the fights or you may leave."

I just started making my way to the opening that would lead me to where Itachi probably was watching.

"Can we have some healers take a look at Orochimaru and Kabuto please." Genma said.

I saw Itachi making his way to meet me. He held out his arms for Sakura and I passed her to him. I was too tired to actually carry her all the way home. He carried her as if she were a baby. Compared to how old we were though she was.

"Do you want to stay or go home?" Itachi asked me.

"Home." I responded.

He nodded his head and took the lead. We didn't really walk all the way home. Itachi was able to get us a taxi so we could just relax for a bit. We all sat in the back; Itachi and I had the window seats and Sakura was in the middle sleeping. I was not looking forward to seeing my grandfather but I wanted some peace of mind. I decided to just drift off to sleep as well. I just sat against my seat and closed my eyes and momentarily fled reality.

**A/N:Again I apologize for the super late update but I can't slack off if I wan to get into a good university.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 3**

**A/N: I keep getting reviews for veritas and not this story. I really need a review people. My muse is usually triggered by your reviews. I'm just asking for ONE review. -TheGnRFangirl**

The moment we stepped foot into the apartment we were greeted by Madara's furious glare. Sakura was still asleep when we got inside though which saved us for the time being. Itachi put her into her bed and we went to our room.

During these few months that we've spent in Oto I never really talked to Itachi. We were distant from each other when we grew up with our parents. I've never really had a reason to talk to him. Even now I had nothing to say to him. I no longer bare any grudge against him or blame him for my imprisonment. It feels like nothings really changed between us at all. Tonight he did not want to be silent.

"So why did you two exactly decide to fight in the arena with other mediums?" Itachi asked from his bed.

I turned my head and stared at Itachi for a few seconds. I was really tired but at the same time I was wide awake.

"I noticed Sakura looked troubled when Grandfather mentioned we might have to run away again." I told him.

"What exactly does that have to do with my question?" He asked me.

"She's lived in Konoha all of her life." I explained. "This city is the closest to Konoha. It's the closest place to the place she felt safe for so long. I figured that rather than running we should fight instead. Madara is teaching us a few things but its more for self-defense. We can't keep running from Danzo so we should just end this now."

"Danzo is a strong medium though. Do you really think you'll be able to stand a chance?"

"We don't have to be stronger than him."

"Tricking him won't be an easy task either Sasuke. He was able to trap us both in the manor."

"We were still young when that happened."

"We're both still young."

"Only in appearance."

"You and Sakura ran off like a [air of teenagers sneaking off to a party and got caught. I'm the older brother that is covering for both of you."

"I never asked for your help."

"But you needed it in the arena."

"I know that and I'm grateful but I kind of wish we didn't need it."

"You don't have to ashamed of asking or taking help. If you let your pride take over than it will only hinder you."

"I understand that."

"Please talk to grandfather. You're so used to hiding your opinion because of our father. He will listen to you and he won't mock your opinion."

I just nodded my head. My lids were starting to become really heavy. I don't have to deal with aches or pains anymore but I always felt extremely exhausted after my body would heal.

"Do you love Sakura?" Itachi asked out of nowhere.

That shocked me from my sleepy state. I looked over to see if he was just teasing me or actually being serious. His eyes gave no hint of amusement which meant this wasn't a joke.

"Why would ask me that?" I countered wondering where this question came from.

` "You've been giving her all of your attention lately." He explained. "She smiles a lot more when she's with you."

"I haven't noticed her lately and she is my partner in the arena. We have to know each others weaknesses so we can cover them."

I let my eyes close now. Itachi's nagging was starting to bother me. I wanted to rest now because I know that in the morning when we're all awake we'll be facing grandfather's anger unless we sneak out again which was out of the question. I felt myself slowly drift away from consciousness and was thankful for the peace and quiet it would bring to my mind...

I felt someone shaking me but I didn't want to get up yet. I felt like I hadn't gotten any sleep at all today. I wanted to rest a little longer but I knew that whoever was shaking me probably was either Itachi or my grandfather. It was more likely Itachi since I'm sure grandfather would have just pushed me out of my bed.

I opened my eyes and turned to face whoever was shaking me and and saw my brother. He was already dressed for the day. I looked the digital clock by my bedside and saw that it was almost noon. What time did we get home last night?

"Grandfather wants to talk to all of us." Itachi explained. "You need to get dress and go to the living room. I've already informed Sakura. I'll be waiting with grandfather. He's already called in sick for you two."

I felt a pang of guilt as Itachi left the room. He's going to face our angry grandfather alone because of me. I don't have any memories of grandfather ever being angry but I'm sure Itachi has been through that before. I got dressed in navy blue jeans and a black T-shirt and made my way to the living room.

Grandfather was sitting in the arm chair with his arms folded. The only thing that gave any hint of his anger were his eyes. I could see that he was struggling with keeping them black and it almost looked like there was a fire in them. Itachi was sitting in the far left side of the couch avoiding eye contact with grandfather at all costs.

I took the seat to his right and I realized this is the first time I've ever sat to his right. Our father always had me seated to Itachi's left whenever we ate at the table in the dining room. Usually when I sought after my brother to talk to him I was always across from him. It felt somewhat odd for me now. I heard Sakura walk in and watched her as she took the seat to my right.

I suddenly felt an overwhelming urge to protect Sakura. It came out of nowhere but it subsided for now. Maybe in my head I was still in the arena with Kabuto and Orochimaru.

"I want an explanation from all three of you." Madara said; his voice barely below shouting level.

I gave him my explanation first. Madara's stared me right in the. The whole time I had to fight to keep eye contact; I think I heard him growl a bit to but the sound came from my left. I told him that it was my idea from the start and that I persuaded Sakura to agree to my plan. I also told him that I kept it a secret because even though he had already said we could talk with him that I doubted he would say yes. He didn't seem to trust others people at all. I also used how he didn't trust Sakura when he first met her as an argument against him. Explained to Madara that I was starting to see through Sakura's moves way too easily and that sparring with her was just not motivating anymore. I could see through her attacks at times and it was just getting annoying to fight the same opponent over and over again. When I finished my explanation he turned his gaze on Sakura. I growled in the back of my throat for a second and heard a second growl to my left and realized it was Itachi. Why were we growling?

Sakura actually put on a pretty good brave face. She kept all emotion off of her face but when she spoke her voice shook with fear. Every time her voice quivered Itachi and I would growl. I don't know why this kept happening; I'll probably ask Itachi about that later.

Sakura explained that she agreed that we needed to expand our fighting skills by facing a wider variety of opponents. She also mentioned that she could predict a lot of my movements because of certain quirks that I had. I was aware them because Sakura had pointed them out a while ago but I thought that I had been hiding them well but apparently that wasn't the case. When she finished speaking his gazed turned at Itachi.

The anger in his eyes seemed to burn hotter when he turned to look at Itachi. It was probably the same reason that I had heard while growing up; Itachi was the oldest and was therefore supposed to be the responsible one. I didn't growl this time but I felt a cold chill come up my spine. Why did I suddenly feel so scared?

Itachi just said that it was better that Sakura and I at least had him there for support. That it was better not to humiliate us in front of every medium there just because we got on Madara's bad side. He also mentioned that Sakura won our first arena fight against two stronger mediums. Madara asked Itachi about why he lied to Madara last night and Itachi said it was just to throw Madara off long enough for me and Sakura to get a chance at fighting in the arena.

I turned my gaze to the ground and waited to hear my grandfather yell at us. I was used to being yelled at by my father so it wouldn't make much difference. I felt someone grab m y hand; when I looked to my right I saw that it was Sakura. She probably wasn't used to being yelled at. I wonder how her mother disciplined her though. My father usually chose to yell t me and there were times where he would slap me. How had she been raised? How different were we?

"I don't want you two going to the arenas any more." Madara said calmly.

"And why not!?" I shouted. "Are you going to give me a valid reason or are you just going to keep more secrets?"

"Do you realize how dangerous it for you to show yourselves among other mediums?!"

I heard a whimper to my right and I grabbed Sakura's hand to comfort her.

"No I don't!" I yelled back. "Why don't you actually explain something to me for once and stop acting as if you need to shield form the entire world! I'm tired of feeling like I'm a prisoner in this tiny apartment! I was a prisoner in that God forsaken manor for years! I've had enough of this bullshit!"

"Your eyes are dead give away of your lineage Sasuke." Madara told me calmly.

He was talking to me as if I were a dangerous beast. Amazingly my grip on Sakura's hand was still normal.

"Sooner or later Danzo will start to seek aid in order to find us." Madara continued. "It doesn't matter if they keep your family names anonymous. All four of us already have physical characteristics that identify us. There are mediums out there that would gladly give Danzo the information he needs for a small reward. It's best if other mediums don't know about us."

"What if I want to fight Danzo?" I asked him. "What if I just want to get rid of Danzo so I can finally live my life? I'm fine with seeing the world but I don't want to have keep looking over my shoulder because I have to keep running from Danzo."

"That depends on everyone else." Madara answered. "If they feel the same way then we can work something out TOGETHER."

There was a moment of silence that settled in the room. I suddenly felt alone and abandoned until Sakura broke the silence.

"I want to be able to go back to Konoha someday." Sakura said bravely; her voice full of courage instead of fear. "I won't be able to go back until Danzo is dead and some time has passed. Danzo would be die a lot fast if we killed him."

There was a malicious tone in Sakura's voice when she spoke that last sentence. I didn't know she was capable of speaking that way. I've seen her angry before but I've never seen her hate anything before. I don't know why but I turned to stare at her. There was definitely a fire in her eyes. It was an all consuming flame in her eye that threatened to burn anything it came into contact with. I had the sudden urge to just gather her up in my arms and kiss her; but I controlled myself for now. Where had that flame come from?

"Itachi gets to go out a lot more than me or Sasuke and that makes me envy him a bit." Sakura added almost childishly.

The fire in her eyes disappeared but now I knew it was there.

"You have been acting like a dictator recently grandfather." Itachi said almost playfully. "I'd prefer to be free from your tyranny and the key to that is Danzo's death it seems."

"I am not a dictator!" Madara shouted at Itachi.

"That's a matter of opinion." I heard Sakura say to Madara. "I think your dictator."

"You've been more of a dictator than fatherly figure ever since we moved in here."

"According to the normally silent majority; Madara Uchiha has been declared a dictator and therefore must be overthrown." Itachi said with a smile in his voice.

"And who would you three replace me with if you did manage to overthrow me?" Madara said; he was still taking it seriously.

Itachi did have a point though. Madara was the one who decided how the money was supposed to be spent. Madara was the one who came up with the training schedule that Sakura and I followed. When we went out to get jobs we had to get Madara's approval and permission. He was a dictator but I think for now we wanted to just bicker playfully like a... a family.

Madara was still treating this as a serious matter though which had caused all of us to stop smiling.

"Grandfather we don't mean to offend you in any way." Itachi said apologetically. "What I mean is that we want to be able to talk to you as equals. It would be nice if we could talk you as if you were our father. I don't like the way you hide your opinion from us. I'm sure Sasuke and Sakura would have been more cautious about going to the arena if you were more open. It'd be nice if we had more of a family-like relationship with each other."

"Would this really be better for all of you?" Madara asked us.

Itachi turned to face me and Sakura. He raised his eyebrow a bit; his silent way of asking "is there anything I forgot?" I looked at Sakura. She understood his action because she nodded her approval as well.

"Yes." I heard Sakura answer before Itachi could.

"Fine." Madara said. "We can go out to eat to tonight as a family. Until then behave please."

Madara stood up after he was done talking and left the apartment. I couldn't tell if something was bothering him but for now it wasn't a big deal. After a few seconds of silence it became awkward.

"I'm sure you two have some questions about what just happened so I'll go ahead and explain what I think you want to hear. Feel free to tell me if I miss anything." Itachi said; breaking the awkward silence that had settled in the room.

He got up from the couch and took the seat that Madara had occupied before leaving.

"I had sit in that order for a reason." Itachi explained.

"You didn't really have us sit in any order." I told Itachi. "We just sat in the only available seats."

"You're wrong Sasuke." Itachi told me. "If you hadn't noticed we were sitting from oldest to youngest or vice versa."

I thought about that for a second. Even if I hadn't been trapped in the manor I would b e seventeen which I believe was still two years older than Sakura I think. But why would that matter at all?

"I've been reading in my spare time about mediums." Itachi explained. "Mediums have a closer connection with the earth and each other; especially if they are related or have a 'treaty' with each other."

"Why do mediums have treaties with each other?" Sakura asked.

"They were done in the past because of the wars some medium families would have with each other. It usually meant that the two families would protect each other from harm. There were severe punishments for anyone who tried to go against the treaty."

"How could you tell if a treaty was broken and how would make a treaty?" Sakura asked

"You would be able to tell someone broke the treaty the same way you could tell if someone has hurt a family member." Itachi said somewhat grimly "They would be trapped somewhere until they have either been released by someone or have done something to help a family member or ally."

I looked at Itachi. He'd been trapped in the attic of the Manor for as long as I have. It was because of the massacre that occurred.

"Then how did you free yourself from the attic?" I asked him.

"Remember when you were trying to turn Sakura into a medium?" Itachi asked me. "She was too pure and you needed a way for her to lose that purity. I know you have a romantic view on sex; at least that's what it seemed like when you were with Karin."

"I'm not a romantic and explained how this is relevant." I told him.

"You have some romantic views now let me explain." Itachi told me. "Because of how you view sex you wouldn't have used that to take away her purity. You probably would have had her murder someone since I know you're not a thief. It would have haunted both of you so I did the only thing I could in that moment."

"How did you even know what was happening if you were in the fucking attic?!" I yelled; I didn't like discussing this.

"I was still had my power back then remember? I used a spell to keep an eye on you the whole time. I know what you've been through all these years. At least you had a way to escape every once in a while."

I was not comfortable with talking about this anymore. I wanted to just forget this right now; where was the gun when I needed it? Forever lost in what used to be in the Manor probably.

"Sasuke its fine." Sakura told me sharply. "It's in the past now lets get back on topic."

Itachi nodded his thanks at Sakura and continued.

"A treaty between medium families does not need to be written down and can only be broken when the heads of the family agree that the treaty is either no longer needed or necessary." Itachi explained as if our argument never happened. "A treaty can happen out of an act of kindness between mediums of different families. Sakura you helped Sasuke even though you would get nothing for your kindness has actually made a treaty with our families."

No one interrupted Itachi this time which he looked grateful for. I guess he didn't want to argue with anybody anymore or maybe it wasn't in our nature to fight pointless battles. It wouldn't change a thing at all really.

"It was good that we sat in the order that we were sitting in." Itachi explained. "Madara has for some time been thinking about just leaving Sakura alone to do whatever she wants since she's already helped us enough. I've been trying to tell him that she should make her own choice and that it'd be better if you stayed with us Sakura. The way we reacted as Madara stared us down proved to him that we all have a close connection with each other."

"Are you referring to how we were growling earlier?" I asked.

"Yes." Itachi answered. "The fact that we growled when he looked at Sakura proved to Madara that she is very dear to us. Mediums are very protective of anyone who is younger to them if they are close to each other."

I just nodded my head. That cleared up a few things for me at least.

"Itachi if someone was a medium then would that affect how long it takes a child to be born?" Sakura asked.

That sent a cold shiver down my spine and my heart started to race. I wanted to run out the room at this very moment. I wanted to leave and just keep running until I collapsed from exhaustion.

"There are many factors that could affect that." Itachi said calmly; there was no hint of worry in his eyes.

"I'm pretty sure you know what circumstances I'm talking about Itachi." Sakura said.

"Because you were transformed into a medium the baby would have developed faster." Itachi explained. "If you were pregnant then the baby would have been born in three months. I doubt that you have my child."

"Would the baby have been born human?"

"There was a fifty percent chance of that happening. If you were medium when that happened than the baby would have been born a medium and have more potent magic to use than any of us could ever hope for. The child would have close to little emotion though."

The beating of my heart slowed down as they spoke. There was no need to be alarmed at all. I felt better. I didn't want to think about what could have happened.

"Can we stop talking about things that might give me a heart attack?" I asked. "I can only handle so much."

"I'm Sorry Sasuke." Itachi said to me. "I didn't mean to cause you any pain."

"It's fine." I answered. "Let's just either move onto a different subject or so something else."

"Why don't we see if you two can sign up for another match for tonight or would rather wait?"

I looked at Sakura and I could see the excitement in her eyes. I had misjudged her a bit. I never would have thought that she would like the idea of going into the arenas to fight. I had a great partner.

**A/N:Please feel free to express your opinion in a review and yes flames are accepted. I don't care if you're going to tell me it's horrible just please leave your opinion. Thank you. -TheGnRFangirl**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 4**

**A/N:I'm sorry for not updating faster but I had to wait a while before I could type. Someone broke my monitor (which pissed me off) so I had to get a new one. Anyway any criticism you have to offer will make me type faster.(By the way, there are three characters in here that are OCs that my sister created when she was little. The names aren't original but I had to put them in this story for her) -TheGnRFangirl**

The trip to the arena didn't bother Sakura as much as it did the first time. She wasn't looking over her shoulder every five seconds. I didn't like seeing her that way. It made it seem like she was turning paranoid. Maybe we were all slowly turning paranoid; we didn't really go anywhere since we got to this city.

We didn't really keep track of time. We only kept track of the days, weeks, and months passing by. Right now it looked like it was past noon which meant there was no fight yet only sign ups. We went up to the roofs as soon as we could. Now that we weren't really running and trying to keep a low profile I saw that Sakura was taking the time to look down into the alleyways and the streets below us. It was nice to see her relaxed. I could hear heavy foot steps and grunts below us. What was happening down there?

I went closer to Sakura to see what she was staring at. Through the corner of my eyes I could see that Itachi had noticed that we stopped following him. Below in the streets of this abandoned section of the city we could see a group of people close to my age doing a flips and rolls off of buildings. They looked graceful doing these stunts but it looked like at any moment they could injure themselves. They just kept on moving on through the buildings. I heard a quiet sobbing coming from Sakura. I looked at her and saw that she had tears going down her face. I put my arm around her protectively.

"Sakura what's wrong?" I asked.

"It's nothing." She said; a sad smile forming on her lips. "They just reminded me of Rock Lee."

"Who's Rock Lee?"

"He was a friend of mine back in Konoha. Let's keep going guys."

She pushed my arm off of her and started walking ahead of us. I caught up to her and saw that the tears stopped flowing but her eyes were in a different time. She looked like she was lost in the past.

***Sakura's POV***

Seeing those guys free running reminded me of one of my favorite summers in Konoha. One of the guys I grew up with was Rock Lee. As a kid his hair used to be medium length but after he met our middle school P.E. Teacher Might Guy he cut it. He's had the same bowl haircut since then. I believe it was the summer after our seventh grade year; for Neji, Lee, and Tenten it was after their eighth grade year.

I think Guy Sensei was the one who first exposed Lee to parkour. Lee had always loved sports; everyone wanted him on their team during P.E.. One day during the summer he came up to all of us doing flips and rolls over trash cans and other obstacles in our neighborhood. He looked like an action hero when he landed in front of us. He told us all about how amazing parkour was. I think Lee realized how to express himself in a way that he loved and enjoyed that year. He was even nice enough to show us a few things.

The most important thing was to learn how to roll. That was the safest way to land for anyone trying out parkour. We all liked it but none of us were as passionate as Lee. Sometimes when we had nothing to do we all would run through the town as if it were our personal playground. No one really cared too much as long as they didn't catch us on the roof tops. I know some of the guys were more into it then most of us. I think Naruto and Kiba would hang our with Lee to practice. Sai would join often when he wasn't painting or drawing. I think Tenten was the only girl who took it almost as seriously as Lee.

That summer was one of the best though. It was a time when we were all together as if we were a family. During that time I was having a hard time because my mother had told me something upsetting... I can't recall what it was though. Maybe it was only a big deal back then when I was younger. It might be irrelevant to me now.

I felt a hand on my shoulder and I was pulled out of my thoughts. I looked up to see Sasuke staring at me with concern. I suddenly had a great idea.

"We're almost there Sakura." He said to me. "Why are you smiling at me?"

"Sasuke do you know what parkour is?" I asked him.

"I don't have a clue as to what that is. Itachi do you know?"

I turned to Itachi and saw him shake his head.

"It's what those guys that we saw earlier were doing." I explained. "Lee taught me and my friends a few things a while ago. It's a natural method of training the body to efficiently move from point A to point B. Every once in a while we would all run through Konoha as if the whole town was an obstacle course. It's non-competitive but it was fun to learn. It might help us in the arena Sasuke."

"Why do you remember this now?" he asked me.

"I've been having trouble remembering anything from Konoha lately. Usually something has to trigger the memory for me."

Sasuke and Itachi both had that calculating look on their faces. They were debating their heads whether it was worth the trouble or not. It was interesting to see them communicate silently like this. Itachi would raise an eyebrow or Sasuke would make some sort of movement with his head to raise up a question or concern without speaking. After what felt like minutes they both nodded their agreements; it might be worth the trouble.

"What equipment would we need?" Itachi asked as he began walking into the familiar building.

"No equipment is necessary." I told him. "You could wear gloves to protect to your hands but you'll have better grip with out them. I remember that I ran best without my shoes and light clothing."

"Can you be a bit more specific?"  
"A cotton T-shirt and track pants should do just fine. Most of the guys preferred to go without a shirt."

"Any basics you can mention right now?"  
"You have to learn how to roll to lower the impact on legs and spine before you learn anything else. It's the most important thing you can learn. We'll probably have to do more exercise in order to get better."

"I think if it helps you and Sasuke improve then go for it. You guys are the ones fighting in the arena."

I looked at Sasuke and saw that he was absorbing every word and looking at all the options. This is the reason why I listened to Sasuke. I could trust him to look at all the options; his decisions may seem radical sometime but in the end they worked out well. He and Itachi were the same in that aspect.

"We'll try it out tomorrow." Sasuke said. "Right now I want to see if we can get a fight after our 'family' meal."

"Sasuke we are a family." Itachi said to him. "Give it a chance please."

I think Sasuke started countering what Itachi said but I didn't hear it. That word family caused my heart to constrict for a minute. Why did that one world make me want to curl up under a rock and cry. I could feel the tears forming and I just started walking ahead of them. Why did that word hurt so much?

I felt someone grab my shoulder and I turned to see Itachi. His eyes were full of concern; Sasuke was just behind him his eyes a mirror image of Itachi's.

Itachi looked like he was going to say something but I just nodded my head. I didn't quite understand where the sadness was coming from and I didn't want to talk about it. Itachi nodded and walked in front again.

We reached the stairway pretty quickly and followed the passageways down to the dry sewers. I noticed that there weren't that many turns but this place still looked easy to get lost in. Thankfully we only had to go straight in order to reach the same arena we first fought in.

"You two never took off the bracelets they gave you right?" Itachi asked.

"I was too exhausted to even think about taking anything off Itachi." Sasuke said. "I doubt Sakura took hers off since she fell asleep after the fight."

I looked at my right hand and saw the black bracelet. It looked like it was made out of ordinary black beads that you could buy at a craft store but I knew they were more than that.

"We're here." Itachi announced.

I looked up and noticed that we were in the arena. There were only a few mediums here and they were all socializing. As we walked through I noticed that some would stare in our direction. I had no idea if they were looking at anyone specifically.

We started looking around for Genma and found fairly easily. He seemed to pop up at the most convenient of times.

"I didn't think you two would recover so fast." Genma said as we approached him. "Looking for another team match?"

"Yeah." Sasuke answered. "We can't fight until later in the night though."

"What's the earliest you can make it?" He asked. "I'd guess about nine."

"That can be arranged." Genma said. "Let me just pick out someone who can fight at about the same time."

He clapped his hands and a hat appeared from thin air. He put his hand inside and a drew out a single piece of paper.

"The opposing team has three members." He announced. "Is that alright with you two or is the cassum going to fight as well?"

"My brother is not..." Sasuke said before Itachi spoke.

"I'm not fighting." Itachi said; cutting off Sasuke.

"Is it okay or shall I pick out another team?"

"It's fine." Sasuke snapped at Genma.

"Your opponents are Kilik, Xianghua, and Jihiro." Genma said as he began to walk away.

I looked at Itachi in confusion and saw some anger in his eyes but it disappeared quickly as he looked at me.

"It's an insult used on mediums who have had their magic revoked by their family's God." Itachi told me.

Sasuke had explained what had happened to Itachi to me. There was a chance Itachi could get his magic back but like me he would have to abandon his humanity. I don't know if he was willing to make the choice or just wanted to find a different way out.

There was a silence that settled over us.

"Maybe we should head back guys." I suggested. "There really isn't much of a reason why we should stick around here."

"Maybe on the way back you could show us some of the things you learned from your friends." Itachi suggested.

"Just don't knock yourself out by doing so Sakura." Sasuke said teasingly.

"Don't worry I'll remember to land on you instead." I countered.

As we started to leave I could hear a male voice in distance stand out.

"Sasuke and Sakura as in the two newbies who came and won last night?" I heard the male voice ask.

I looked behind me and in the distance saw a tall muscular boy. He long orange hair that reached below his waist. He had dark green eyes that looked dangerous. He was wearing a brown over a white T-shirt and an old pair of jeans. He was the one who was talking which meant this guy was one of our three opponents. He looked like he could be at least seven feet tall.

There were two blonde haired girls that looked like sisters standing behind him. The taller of the two had her hair in a ponytail that barely reached her waist. She wore nothing but purple clothing and had dark blue eyes. Her blue eyes held a fire in them; she had the eyes of a fighter.

The shorter; and noticeably younger; blonde had the same blue eyes as the older but they were more calculating. She had the same look on her face that Itachi usually had when ever he was weighing his deep in thought. She didn't look to be much older than ten years old. I noticed that she was looking at us and it looked like she was sizing us up. We've only fought once in the arena so she didn't have much to work with.

"You know I will fight if you two ask me to." Itachi told me out of nowhere.

"Do think we might be in over our heads?" Sasuke asked.

"One of the girls is already looking for a way to beat both of you." Itachi told Sasuke. "You guys were close to losing your first battle. I'm sure she's looking for any weaknesses you may have revealed in the arena."

"Is there anything that might have looked like a weakness?" Sasuke asked.

"Orochimaru and Kabuto were able to overwhelm you a few times when you were separated." Itachi stated.

"You'd only be able to use hand to hand combat though." I told Itachi. "What if you can't get close enough to even hit them?"

"Who says I have to fight them?"

"Quit being cryptic and tell us what you plan to do." Sasuke said.

"I can just be there to make sure you don't get overwhelmed. Besides I'm sure that it might also throw of the little strategist."

"She has the same calculating look that you have Itachi. Will it really throw her off at all?"I asked.

"If she thinks anything like Itachi does then no." Sasuke said.

"We should get going." Itachi said. "We're attracting their attention."

I looked over and saw that all three of them were looking in our direction.

"Let's head home then." Sasuke said.

I turned around and followed the boys toward the exit. They didn't bother to follow us at all which was better for us. We would have plenty of time to fight later tonight.

As soon as we got outside Itachi asked me to show them what Lee had taught me and my friends years ago. I wasn't comfortable with running on rooftops; at least not here; so I made them wait until we were off the roofs. The alley ways here didn't have too many obstacles but they offered a decent amount of space. Maybe enough for a Webster front flip?

"Give me some space." I instructed.

I heard both of them take a few steps back. I started to take deep breaths to get oxygen to my muscles. I would have preferred to have been barefoot but I could see sharp pieces of glass that I didn't need lodged in my foot. I took three running steps and jumped suing my left leg and kicked with the right. For a second my world was flipped upside down and for that moment I was back in Konoha racing Naruto, Hinata, Ino, and many others from one end of the town to the other. I believed in the vision I saw before and for a few seconds kept running before I heard Sasuke and Itachi running to catch up to me as they called for me to wait up.

"I'll admit that was pretty cool." Sasuke said. "I wasn't expecting that."

"It's just a basic trick that I learned." I told him. "Lee knew so many others and could maneuver around anything that was in his way."

"That might be useful for dodging things." Itachi said. "If any mediums decides to change the terrain at all with a spell then those skills could help you adapt faster."

I smiled at both of them. I don't think we knew each other all that well but maybe that would change with time. Both of them liked to keep to themselves but they were opening little by little.

The rest of the walk was uneventful; except for the fact that I jumped when an alley cat jump on a dumpster at a random moment. We didn't run into anyone and it was a peaceful walk; well as peaceful as a walk in Oto can be. In the busier parts of the city where we lived there were always people rushing for one reason or another. A lot of the buildings here were soundproof as well because this city was never silent.

We made our way to the three bedroom apartment ready to just rest. Sasuke and I usually get the weekends as a break from training; which meant we had nothing to do. It was fine for us because it meant we could rest as long until we had to leave for dinner which was who knows when. For the time being we talked about the upcoming fight.

If we tell Madara about it then there was a high chance that he would want to see us fight. If that happened, and we all knew it probably was going to happen, then should all three of us go in together or not? Is he going to judge us if he does watch decide to watch us? What would happen if we won or lost? Would the outcome of the battle matter to him or was he just interested in the performance?

In the end we decided that we needed Itachi in the arena tonight. It would even the odds and he might help us out. Itachi always seemed to have something up his sleeve so it seemed better to have him around. The discussion lasted until six o' clock which was when arrived home (we didn't even notice he was gone) and announced that we were going to go eat.

There was a dine that was within walking distance of our apartment. I've been there once to ask for job applications but other than that I'd never really been there. I only remember it being quiet in there. At least we wouldn't have to travel far from home tonight. II wonder what Madara will say once we tell him our plans for tonight.

The walk to the diner was a silent one. I guess none of us were really looking forward to telling Madara about our plans; we technically did this behind his back. At least this time we were actually going to tell him; that was something at least.

There were a few people in the diner but we found a booth in a quiet corner where we wouldn't really be bothered. I sat next to Sasuke which meant that I was facing Itachi and Madara. I felt like an outcast among at that moment. These three guys were all related by blood and I was only here because of special circumstances. I suddenly missed my mom again; she was the only family I ever had. I felt Sasuke grab my hand and I just pulled out of his grip. There really wasn't much anyone could do to comfort me at the moment.

"Sakura you are a part of this family." Madara said as if he could read my thoughts. "The treaty we have is a binding as blood. I don't want to see that look in your eyes anymore."

"What look?" I asked.

"You can put on brave face but your eyes always betray you Sakura." He explained. "I can see that your starting to get upset and I can guess why. If your feeling homesick it's only natural. You've never really left Konoha until now."

I didn't really know how to respond to that but I felt my sadness slowly ebb away from me.

"I must be dreaming." Sasuke said in a serious tone. "Madara Uchiha is actually caring about someone."

I couldn't help but giggle just a little. All Madara did in response was smile. I guess it's been a while since he got to be a dad.

"So are you guys going to tell me why you left the apartment?" Madara asked as the waitress came to take our orders.

She was an older woman who looked to be in her early thirties. She looked like someone who could easily be lost in the crowd. We told her what we wanted and waited for her to leave before we felt comfortable talking.

"We signed up for another fight in the arena." Sasuke explained.

"I'll be there with them this time." Itachi added.

Madara just sat there silently for a bit. All three if us were watching him closely now. He was absorbing our words and it looked like he was choosing his response carefully. Something told me that his response was not something that we wanted to hear at the moment and he didn't take long to answer.

"I want to see you guys fight." Madara said.

"You see us fight everyday." Sasuke said.

"I want to see how you do against other mediums." Madara clarified.

I mentally let out a sigh of relief. I was expecting him to get mad at us.

"I want to see if you guys are ready to fight or not." Madara stated.

"We won our first in the arena." I told him. "Isn't that proof that we can handle it."

"You came home unconscious and Sasuke was exhausted." Madara countered. "That match was against two veterans but I wasn't there to see how you did. I want to see how you guys handle the situations. I'm assuming that you three are a team."

"Yeah." I answered.

"This will be the first time I see you fight as a team. I won't base my judgment on the outcome of the battle. I'll base it off of how well you three do individually and as a team."

"Can you be a bit more clearer?" I asked.

"I'm going to judge how well you work together. If you do well then you're welcome to fight as a team. I will also judge how you do on your own and if you do well then you can fight on your own."

There was silence among us.

"So you'll actually be okay with us fighting alone if we do well?" Sasuke asked stunned.

"Your individual skills contribute to the team and I think you can become a better fight if you fight alone a couple of times." Madara said to him. "I'm hoping you guys will respect my decision after I've seen you fight."

"Since your being fair I will respect your decision no matter what." Sasuke said.

I nodded my head in agreement. Itachi gave a simple nod as well. Madara smiled at us just as the food arrived at our table. I suddenly felt very nervous; I never dd well when I know I'm being judged.

**A/N:Please don't forget to review for it shall bring a faster update.-TheGnRFangirl**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 5**

**A/N: Sorry for the lat update. Have to prepare for a big project in my AP English class. Please review and I will do my me best to update as soon as possible. -TheGnRFangirl**

Despite Madara's "shocking" announcement we ate our dinner without much complaint. Normally we just went to eat at fast food restaurants so it was a nice change. At least we were actually able to talk about some what normal stuff. We mostly talked about what we dream about when we close our eyes.

Most dreams that mediums have are of nothing but colors and some strange noises sometimes. To each of us they were pure bliss though and helped to really refresh our minds and body. Every once in a while an actual dream will occur; well sort of. It's usually just fond memories of the past but they become altered with time or they reveal our desires of the past or present. In my dreams I've started to notice that Itachi and Sasuke have weaseled their way into my dreams.

I usually had dreams about Konoha. It's not like I had any other places I really wanted to be. Normally I was remembering the great times I had with my friends but Sasuke and Itachi were there to somehow. I feel an attachment to them and I know I don''t want to lose contact with even when this business with Danzo is over.

Sasuke seemed to dream of breaking free from something. He was always breaking free from some sort of prison whenever he wasn't dreaming of colors. He didn't really go into great detail like I did. He only mentioned that there was always one guard that would tell him that didn't have the skills to escape like his "former" cellmate.

Itachi mentioned that he dreamed that he was the protector of two small children in his dreams. His job was to protect them from the corruptions of a foul world. He didn't mention how the two kids looked but he seemed fond of the dream. Most of the time he was dressed as a Samurai he but he's dreamed of being all sorts of warriors. He said he was their guardian and playmate at times. He was content to watch them smile and laugh.

After Itachi had finished speaking we all turned to Madara. Since we had all spoken up it was only fair that he share as well. He only crossed his arms when we stared at him.

"It's already 7:30PM." Madara said. "We should get going now if you want to get to the arena."

"You can tell us your dreams as we walk or take the car." I told him. "Your choice."

"Car and I'm driving." He said.

"Just because you have knowledge about how to drive doesn't mean I trust you to drive." I retorted.

"Only way your hearing a thing."

"Fine." I said in defeat.

I actually trusted Madara a lot; despite some of his flaws. In the end he was just looking out for us. We didn't really use the four runner much though because the price of gas was always rising but we kept the tank full and had extra gallons in the trunk for emergencies. At least tonight we weren't walking back to the arena.

The walk to the apartment building's parking lot wasn't much but I felt nervous as we all climbed in. None of us wanted to be in the front of the vehicle with Madara. I noticed that we were sitting in the same order as when Madara had lectured us earlier today. Madara didn't seem to care that he would in front by himself. I think he even smiled when he noticed we all climbed in the back.

"I dream about you guys." Madara said as he turned the key in the ignition. "I dream that you guys are safe and happy. I dream that you guys have your own families. I don't ever see your children's eyes or your spouses though. There's a boy with red hair that spikes up oddly. He's always curious and trying to figure out how everything works. Then there's a girl with your hair color Sasuke. She smiles a lot more then you do though and she's more friendly. Then there's a boy that looks a lot like you Itachi. He keeps his hair short though."

"You want to see us living normal lives after this thing with Danzo clears up?" I heard Itachi ask. "That won't be easy since we've pulled ourselves out of normal society"

"It's just what I wish would happen for you guys." Madara explained. "It's your choice if you want to return to normal society."

"That's not very likely for some of us." Itachi countered.

I knew he was referring mostly to me. He could blend in pretty well but he wouldn't be able to get really close anyone to well. I had no hope of regaining my humanity so there was no point in acting normal really. Sasuke was the lucky one who could choose to regain his humanity but I doubt he would fit in after the manor incident. Maybe we were all predestined to become mediums the moment we were born (now I sound like Neji).

"I don't think I'll ever give up my magic." Sasuke said. "I never would have escaped that hell if I never found the books. Who knows if I might ever need it again. I'd rather be safe than sorry."

"I can never be human again." Itachi said solemnly. "I can never use my magic ever again unless I give up what's left of my humanity. I'm not sure how long I can endure other medium's insults so I've been thinking about giving up my humanity."

"I already chose my path." I said.

There was a long pause before Madara broke the silence.

"You can't blame me for wishing for the impossible." He said. "We all do at some point."

We were already near the older part of the city. Soon we would have to get out and go on foot. I think Madara had a vague idea of where we needed to go. He was in contact with Itachi on the night Sasuke and I decided to disappear. Madara stopped near the alleyway with the fire escape that would lead to the rooftops. It wouldn't be too far of a walk.

We all climbed out of the car and just headed for the fire escape. It was probably already close to eight o' clock. They probably opened the doors after every fight since we were able to leave right after I blacked out. Like before Itachi took the lead with Sasuke and me following him closely. Madara was behind us going at his own pace.

The one thing I'll never understand is why we have to climb up the enter the building when we're just going to take a stairway that goes underground. Maybe it was to keep the entrance hidden. Not a lot of people look up when they want to find something so it was a great hiding place for the entrance. The down side is that the whole thing seems redundant to those who actually use the entrance. There were was another group walking ahead of us. It was a group of three which reminded me of our opponents. None of them were tall enough to even reach the tall boy's height.

While we navigated through the sewers of this town I noticed that Madara was looking around for anything he could use as a landmark. I would tell him that all he needed to do is go straight but I think I'll let him figure it out for himself.

When we arrived I noticed that the door was open but it was slowly closing. Our window of opportunity was closing. Who knew when the next fight would end.

"We should hurry guys." Itachi said as he started to speed up.

We didn't need to actually run just walk faster. When we walked into the arena we were immediately greeted by Genma.

"I need to know if you are fighting as partners or as a team of three." He said. "If so please inform me now."

"Yes we will be fighting as three so give him a piece of paper and bracelet." Sasuke said slightly irritated.

"Please write your full name out on this." Genma said as he handed Itachi paper and pen.

Itachi wrote his name quickly and handed back the materials.

"This bracelet will glow when your name is called." Genma informed him. "We do not speak last names in this arena to minimize death. From now on I will have to be informed if you are fighting as partners, a team, or on your own. You may enter the circumference of the combat zone."

As soon as Genma finished speaking he quickly disappeared into the crowd. He seemed frustrated at the moment. Perhaps our opponents were harassing him or something. It was probably their little strategist. If you have too many variables in an equation then it can become impossible to solve unless you can mess with the equation enough but it can be tedious. Something Itachi mentioned to me once.

"Ready to go Sakura?" I heard Itachi ask.

"Yeah." I responded.

I followed the boys into the arena, Like before all eyes were on us but for different reasons. I can hear that they were talking about Itachi. Not by name but the word Genma had used, cassum. It sounded like they didn't think we could win. Well we were going to have to prove them wrong; something we did the last time we were here.

We walked toward the little four foot tall wall that separated the actual combat zone from the spectator's area. A small opening in this wall could be made by touching it with one of the black beads that made up our bracelets. The other mediums here were waiting for us to join their ranks in the circumference of the combat zone. We were still in that same order that we were on that couch this morning. I felt a sense of safety as we stood among the videos. I could see our opponents were somewhere to my left. The boy standing out because of his height.

We saw other mediums fight but not many of them stood out much. Another group of three stood out because they had some unique abilities. Their names slipped my mind but one of them could turn his body into water whenever he was hit to avoid getting hurt. He had shark-like teeth, lavender eyes and snow white hair. The other boy seemed calm but the moment the fight started he went berserk and his body altered as well. The girl wasn't much of a fighter but she healed the boys if they got hurt. All they had to do was bite her they would instantly start to heal.

There were a few mediums who really knew how to use their magic and all of them could fight really well. The hour actually passed by pretty quickly. As the night progressed ,ore mediums would come and enter the arena. Even some of the spectators joined us in the circumference. I kept looking behind me and every time I did I would see Madara. His eyes would be fixated on the current fight though.

I took a deep breath when I heard Genma call out our names. Like before I didn't really know what to expect in this fight. I felt like there were knots in my stomach as we walked to the center of the combat zone.

"Both Teams bow to your opponents." Genma said as we met each other in the center. "There will be some special rules in place for this match."

That caught all three of us off guard. This was something we did not anticipate. We bowed lower then the other team. We were still on the bottom of the food chain here.

"Jihiro has a medical condition that prevents her from actually fighting." Genma explained. "She will remain close to the circumference of the combat zone throughout the match. She will be able to enter the circumference in order to avoid getting hurt. If her two teammates are taken out she will forfeit the match. It is advised that you try not to attack her. Do you three understand?"

"We understand." Itachi answered for us.

"Do both teams accept the challenge?" Genma asked.

All of us nodded our heads in response.

"Then please stand thirty feet apart from each other." Genma told us. "Jihiro move closer to the circumference."

As we started walking away I noticed that the younger blonde girl was walking towards the edge. She looked like she was upset about having to walk away from her teammates. She was going towards an area where there were no mediums at all. She probably wasn't used to being all alone.

"You may begin combat now!" Genma yelled.

Immediately the other two mediums charged at us. I could see a difference in the way they both ran. Kilik used his strength to propel him forward. The older blonde girl Xianghua was able to move her feet pretty fast. She was a lot faster than Kilik.

"Vires." I muttered under my breath.

"Sakura you have to take on the guy." Sasuke muttered.

"All three of them are true mediums." Itachi muttered. "They were never once human. His strength is not to be taken lightly."

I nodded to let them know that I heard them and started running towards the guy. This guy was a lot taller than me and I had no idea what his strength was like but I had to keep him away from the boy. Sasuke and Itachi would have a better chance at fighting Xianghua since they couldn't really use the Vires spell at all.

Kilik knew that I would go after him and was ready for me. He got ready to punch me and I prepared my self to block his attack. I caught his punch and a loud crack sounded in the arena. His fist felt like it was made of stone and I felt the force travel up my arm. It wasn't shattering the ones or even tearing up the muscles in my arm but I could still feel so much pain. I could see a look of pain on his face as well.

I let go of his fist and took a couple of steps away from him. The pain in my arm was slowly starting to ebb away but no fast enough for my liking. I looked at him and saw that he was still recovering from the pain. I took the opening and kicked him in the stomach as hard as I could. I heard the wind rush out of his lungs but that kick really hurt my foot. It was almost like this guy was made of flesh and stone.

All of a sudden I felt someone grab me by the waist. Whoever it was had grabbed me just as a large stone almost hit me right in the face. Whoever saved me set me down when I was out of harm's way.

"You need to be more vigilant." I heard Itachi whisper in my ear. "The younger blonde is dangerous."

I looked in his direction when I realized he had just saved me from a bad concussion. Why was he concerned about the that Jihiro girl? I was nowhere near her.

"Mutare terra!" I heard Kilik yell which snapped me out of my thoughts.

What I saw just amazed me. The small combat zone that we were standing in was transforming into an entirely different landscape. Grass beghan to sprout under under our feet and a single tree grew in the very center of the place. The tree almost reached the cieling of this place and looked ancient. There were a few vines hanging from it's limbs and the bark had some moss growing on it.

As I stared in amazement at the tree I got the feeling that something was coming at me. I listened to my instinct and ducked. I felt something go by above me. I looked to my left and saw that Xianghua was swinging on a vine and had almost kicked me.

This was their environment. This small field was probably a piece of their home that they hung onto out here in Oto.

"Xianghua get the guys." I heard Kilik say to Xianghua; a int of anger was in his voice. "Pinky is mine."

Did he seriously just call me Pinky? I started to grind my teeth together in anger. He could at least have the decency to remember my ACTUAL name! I charged right at him as fast as I could.

"Cover her Sasuke!" I heard Itachi yell., but the meaning behind his words didn't even register in my mind at the moment.

Kilik was only a few feet ahead of me so it didn't take long for my fist to connect with his jaw. The first hit actually caught Kilik off gaurd but he was ready for the next barrage of fists. Rather than just taking every hit Like before he was blocking my punches and kicks and was rolling with the punches at times. He tried to hit me but I was more agile then which gave me an advantage but he had alot more strength then I thought. Every time I blocked one of his punches or kicks I would feel the travel all the to my spine. I had to mutter a healing spell with every kick and punch to avoid any serious injury.

I could hear Sasuke fighting Xianghua nearby. I couldn't tell how well he was doing but I had to concetrate on my fight. I was starting to get tired but this guy just wouldn't slow down. He had as much energy as Naruto. He wasn't slowing down at all while I was starting to take more hits. He started to aim for my jaw which made it harder for me to even mutter my healing spell. I was reaching my limits far too quickly.

"Itachi!" I yelled as I kept weaving away from Kilik's relentless punches.

I felt an arm go around my waist again and was taken safely away from Kilik.

"Sasuke we need to buy some time." I heard Itachi yell as he set me down.

"Sanare livor." I muttered and felt my bruises disappear for the huindreth time today.

"Flammarum!" I heard Sasuke say right behind us.

"Torpens." I said as I grabbed Sasuke's head.

We were entraped in dome of flames just like the last fight. I could see the exhaustion clear on Itachi's face. I could hear thatSasuke was having trouble catching his breath. The flames was the only thing allowing us to catch our breath.

"Please tell me you have a plan Itachi." Sasuke said. "I doubt that we could win using the same cheap trick from yesterday."

As Sasuke spoke a huge rock nearly hit Sasuke and me. Kilik most likely threw it but where the hell had it come from?

"Those three are true mediums." Itachi told us. "They were never humans. It means both of their parents were mediums and their magic is very potent. They have alot more enrgy then a human and they have unusual traits most of the time."

"Like how that blonde girl Xianghua is unusaully flexable?" Sasuke asked.

"There are a few humans who are extremely felxible Sasuke." I told Sasuke. "That guy Kilik feels like he's made of stone."

"Yeah that sounds about right." Itachi said. "It also means we don't have to hold back as much. They can take alot more dame than humans. If you haven't noticed Kilik hardly has a mark on him even though he's been taking punch after punch from Sakura."

"Any ideas on how to take out?" Sasuke asked as another boulder came and almost took otu Itachi.

I took a close look at the boulder. It looked like a piece of the arena floor. Kilik was ripping huge chunks out of the floor of this arena!

"We need to use more deadly attacks." Itachi said. "It's the only way we're going to stand a chance now."

"Got it." I said to Itachi.

"Can I release the spell so we can fight again?" Sasuke asked.

"Yeah" Itachi said to Sasuke.

"Restinguo." Sasuke said in response.

The flames encircling us disappeared and we were greeted by another boulder flying in our direction. Itachi ran out of the way while I ducked. Sasuke wasn't as lucky and took a bad hit on his arm. I could see that the bopulder had torn into his flesh a bit and saw that some of the muscle was torn away. He l;et out a scream of anguish but it didn't last long since his arm started to heal. First the blood vessels repaired themselves as the muscles started to reconnect with each other. After all the internal damgaed was healed his skin grew over the exposed flesh quickly.

I got angry at Kilik. If that had hit itachi or me then the dmaged would have been worse. It could have even been fatal. I was going to make him pay for that.

"Don't let your anger control you." Itachi whispered in my ear; when did he get behind me? "You won't be able to beat him head on."

I nodded my head to let him know that I heard him.

I ran starigth at Kilik with the perfect spell to knock him out. If I couldn't use brute force then I could use a gentler approach to take him out.

He tried to hit me as I got within range of his unches but I could see that he had left an opening for me to get thriough his offense. I grabbed the front of his shirt and forced him to bend down to my eye level. His eyse widened shock as he looked into my eyes.

"Nox." I said sweetly just before I kissed his forehead.

His eyes fluttered shut as I let go of his shirt and let him hit the floor.

"Sakura look out!" I heard Sasuke yell.

I turned aroundto see what he was talking about but all I saw was that he was still holding back Xianghua with his lightning attack.

I felt something wrapping around my body. I looked down and saw that I was being tangled by vines. They were coming from the tree at the center of the arena. The vines lifted me about ten feet in the air. It was that girl Jihiro who was cotroling the vines I thought. I looked in her direction and saw that she was concentrating on me and that she was just outside of the protective barrier.

"You're in my domain now Sakura." Jihiro said as a barrier came around the tree. Sasuke and Itachi were outside of it with Xianghua who was tryiong to reach Kilik.

"I don't like it when someone takes out my older brother." She said chilishly.

She and Xinaghua were related to Kilik? They didn't really have any resmblence with each other.

"Vivamus per memorias vos despicies." She said.

I felt a fiery pain coming from my head. She was forcing her way through my head for who knows what. Suddenly I wasn't in the arena anymore. I didn't feel the vines around my body.I was in a strange yet familiar house. It definitely wasn't my home in Konoha though.

**A/N: Thank you for reading. Please leave any criticism you may have to offer.-TheGnRFangirl**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 6**

**A/N:I'm soo sorry for the late update. I lost the flash drive that I keep this story on so I had to rewrite the whole chapter. I also broke my leg so I haven't been feeling like myself in a long time. I hope you guys enjoy the chapter. -TheGnRFangirl**

The house I was standing looked bigger than my home in Konoha. I didn't really pay attention to the furniture here. My eyes were drawn to the pictures on the wall. Most of them were of the same couple aging over time. There were a few pictures of them as teenagers. The girl in the picture had beautiful red hair that went down to her waist and green eyes that reminded me of emeralds. Something about her looks frightened me but I couldn't figure out why. Perhaps I'd seen this girl somewhere. The boy in the picture was a total stranger to me. He had dark brown hair that was cut short and his eyes were a beautiful hazel color. I looked at the pictures and watched as the couple aged. As the couple matured I started to realize that I know where I'd seen that girl. She was the women who tried to kill me in my dream. She staring right a me through one of the photos but here eyes were full of happiness and were not angry. In this picture she was wearing a beautiful wedding dress and her husband was in a nice black tuxedo. The final picture to the right shocked me. The couple looked a few years older and they were holding a baby in their arms. The baby had pale pink hair and sea green eyes... like me.

I know that baby in the picture is me. I'd seen the pictures that my mother had kept. I was smiling at that picture and it looked like I was trying to grab onto thin air.

"Sachiko I'm heading off to work in five minutes okay." I heard a male voice say behind me.

I turned around and saw that it was the man from the photos here. He was wearing a police uniform and I could see a gun strapped to his waist.

I saw the red haired woman; who I am now assuming is Sachiko; come out from one the doorways that lead into this room.

"Don't work too hard Haji." She said to him. "It's your last day working for this city. You'll need your energy if we're moving to Konoha."

"I know sweetheart." He said to Sachiko. "They're already to have me over there in their Vice and Narcotics unit. I guess they heard I took down one of the biggest drug pushers out here in Tani."

"Don't get all cocky Haji." Sachiko said. "You were only able to take down Root through sheer luck and you know it."

"Oh you mean like you met that Tsunade woman through sheer luck as well?" Haji countered playfully. "She's the reason you wanted to become a nurse right?"

"She's also Sakura's God Mother remember."

"I know."

I heard the sound of a baby crying from above me as they were talking.. This was a two story house?

"Oh I almost forgot to say good-bye to my little Sakura." Haji said.

"I'll come up with you." Sachiko said.

They walked down a hallway that was to their right. I took a peak and saw that there was a staircase down that hallway.

I watched them walk up the stairs as they held each others hands almost as if they were still a younger couple. I wanted to follow them but some other things on the walls. One of the things that caught my eyes was a medal that hung on the wall. It was a reward from this city that they currently lived in. It said "The City of Tani recognizes Haji Haruno as a hero." My name on the book ready Sakura Haruno did this mean...

A movement outside caught my eye that snapped me out of my thoughts; for now. I took a few steps toward the window and took a peek. There were two guys standing outside of the window both of them were wearing animal masks to hide their faces; one had the mask of a hawk and the other a cat. They both were wearing short, black, midriff jackets, with red straps over the shoulders and black shirts underneath their jackets. The hawk masked man was holding a couple of water gallons containing a yellowish liquid. He set them down and started pouring the liquid around the house while the cat masked man tried to pick the lock on the door. It only took him seconds to open the door and walked in quietly.

"Hand me a gallon." He said; his voice distorted by the mask.

The hawk masked man quickly handed him a gallon and went back to pouring the liquid. The cat masked man began pouring the liquid over some of the furniture after he made a trail that came from outside.

"Check if there's a back door." The hawk masked man said. "We don't want Haji or his wife to escape do you?"

"Right." Said the cat masked man.

As he walked by the odor of the liquid finally reached my nose and I realized with great horror that they were pouring gasoline around this house. I ran up the stairs and decided that I needed to warn Haji and Sachiko because they ... I couldn't bring myself to cal them that.

I could hear them make cooing noises down the hall and tried to pinpoint the noise. It was coming from behind me. I took the hall that would lead me to the baby room. I could hear their voices as I ran.

"She's so cute Sachiko." I heard Haji say. "I bet she'll be a real heart breaker like you were back in High School."

"Don't make me think about stuff like that." Sachiko responded. "Right now I can keep her safe from the horrors of the world."

"The world isn't as bad as you think it is and I' working hard to make this place a better place for her."

I ran right into the room and saw them smiling at me. Sachiko was holding me while Haji held her by the waist.

I tried to shake Haji's shoulder but my hand went through him... He wasn't real at at all. I could smell the smoke from the fire but for some reason they couldn't? Were my senses better then theirs or...

"Sachiko did you leave the stove on?" Haji asked. "I think somethings burning."

"Haji I was washing the dishes not cooking." Sachiko responded.

Haji looked out the window and I saw his eyes widen in fear. He immediately sprang into action. He grabbed the blanket from the crib and gently grabbed me out of Sachiko's arms.

"The house is on fire." He said, his voice filled with fear. "We need to get out before all of our exits are blocked."

"What!?" Was all my mother could say.

"It's too risky to jump from here so we have to hope for the best and try to find a way out on the bottom floor." as he I saw him wrapping me tightly in the blanket for some reason.

He grabbed Sachiko's hand and started running down the hall, she was struggling to keep up with him. I followed after them and saw that the living room already looked like an inferno. The only way out was the window I'd been looking through.

"Hold Sakura." Haji said as he took out his gun and made his way to the window. "Cover Sakura's ears.!"

He used the gun to break open the window and clear away some of the glass left at the bottom of the window. In the distance I could hear the sound of a fire engine coming.

Haji ran back to Sachiko and hugged her.

"I need to you to jump out through that window with Sakura okay." Haji told Sachiko. "I'll be right behind you and we're going to be fine. We'' move to Konoha and we'll raise _our_ daughter _together_."

He walked to the window and rather than jumping Sachiko climbed through it with Haji's assistance. As Sachiko took a few steps forward a gun shot went off. I saw blood shoot out of Sachiko's head and watched as she fell to the floor. Her body cushioned my fall but I could see that she was dead.

"Sachiko!" Haji yelled as he threw himself forward, his gun was in his holster again.

When he landed I saw one of the guys pin him to the grass.

"Well, well, well." The hawk masked man said. "If it isn't the lucky cop who took down Root's supposed leader. Little did you know that he was a dummy. Still cause quit a bit trouble since some of our best men were arrested as well."

"You know we slaughtered a whole clan because they were sticking their noses in the wrong places." The cat masked man said. "Now their little mansion lay abandoned somewhere in a small town called Konoha."

The cat masked man walked over to my mother and picked me up.

"Maybe your little girl will make a great addition to Root." He said as he held me. "What do you think Haji?"

"If you leave my girl here for the firemen to pick up then I might give you some information that the Tani Police Department have on your organization." He said.

"I think that's a good deal." The cat masked man said as he put me down in a pool of Sachiko's blood.

The hawk masked man let Haji stand up which turned out to be his biggest mistake. The masks probably restricted a lot of their vision which meant that they hadn't seen the gun Haji had in his holster. He shot the hawk masked man right in the neck and took a bullet to the arm from the cat masked man. He took aim at the cat masked man and fire right at his heart. As the cat masked man collapsed I saw his finger squeeze the trigger which shot one final bullet at Haji's head.

I walked outside at this point horrified and noticed that no one had come out to help these people as they were being killed. Why did no one come out. Why did no one bother to help these people when they were being murdered? I looked around and saw that there was no sign of movement in the other homes.

I went to look in the house next door and what I saw horrified me. It looked like the family was slaughtered in there. I fell to my knees in shock. Why was I even here? I covered my eyes and just wished that I would leave this place.

"Go away go away go away." Was all I could say...

I started feeling pain in my head but I refused to see anymore.

"Sakura I love you with all my heart." I heard my mother's voice say. "You know that right?"

"Mom you tell me that everyday." I heard my voice answer but I didn't speak. "How could I not know."

"Then remember that after you hear what I have to say."

"Okay."

"You're not my biological daughter. Your biological parents died in a town tragedy in the city of Tani. I was selected to be your God mother because your mother was my apprentice at one point." I heard her say.

I uncovered my eyes at this point and saw that I was back in my home in Konoha. I was sitting on the couch next to my mom. I looked about fourteen at this time.

"Your father was a brave cop and your mother was an up and coming nurse." She said to my fourteen year old self. "I was happy that they wanted me to be a part of your life. I can't actually have children. I still wish you had grown up with your parents though. They had been planning to move here because this town is where your mother grew up. This town is where I grew up as well."

At this point I saw that my younger self was crying at this news and I felt tears falling as well.

"What were their names?" My younger self asked her voice shaking.

"Haji and Sachiko Haruno." My mother answered.

Suddenly a piercing pain went through my skull. All the memories that had been blocked out by my deal between me and my family's Goddess came flooding back into my head. My mother telling me about how I was adopted by her. My depression that soon followed that information. I wasn't fourteen in the memory I had just witnessed. I was still twelve at that time. I was a seventh grade middle school kid at the time. That summer was when I really needed my friends. Sai had been there for for most of it because he had been an orphan his whole life. Ino was really patient with me and Hinata was there when I was just ready to break down. Many more memories kept flowing through my head but those of my parents really hurt my head.

The scene before started to shift again. Why was this even happening to me right now.

**Sasuke's POV**

This blonde girl didn't know how to fucking slow down. Every kick was at the same speed. Every punch had the same amount of force. Itachi had already taken a few bead hits so I was trying to keep her away from him but she would go after him the moment I left an opening for her. I didn't expect this fight to be this hard. I was reaching my limits but if Sakura would just escape from that damn tree and its barrier. She looked like she was sleeping in there with that Kilik guy but I could see little movements that showed she wasn't just dreaming.

"Itachi is there any way to break that barrier!?" I asked

I had to concentrate on Xianghua, if I didn't then she'd go after Itachi again. I was in a fight that I knew I would eventually lose. With every second that passed I would slow down. I just couldn't keep up this damn pace forever.

We kept up a study rhythm as we fought. If her kick missed then she would use the momentum and transfer back into a punch. I usually chose to just dodge but every once in a while I would break the sequence and block her attack which would give time to attack. She didn't bother to use any spells which kind of pissed me off. I came to this arena because I wanted to learn how to properly use my spells.

I caught her punch this time and held her there. Before I could even try and hit I saw Itachi kick her from the side. I let go of her before she fell to the floor.

"Go up to the barrier and place your hand on it." Itachi whispered in y ear. "Say aperio and it should open up for you. If it doesn't then we'll have to wait for Sakura to try and open it and pray that Kilik doesn't wake up."

"I thought Sakura put him to sleep." I asked Itachi.

"That spell she used doesn't last very long." He said. "He'll be out for a few more minutes if we're that lucky."

"If we're not?'

"Then he'll wake up in about a minute and come charging a us."

I couldn't help feeling a little nervous now. Everyone in this arena had heard the thunder like noises that came from his fist fight with Sakura. If he really did wake up then we were in trouble.

I turned my attention back to Xianghua just in time to see her lunge right at me. She slammed me right into the floor hard. She put her hand on my head and started pulling my hair.

"plus de gravitate." She muttered.

When she muttered that spell I felt my body felt heavier. I couldn't even lift up one of my bitch is gonna pay the moment I get up.

She got off of me and went straight for Itachi. Dammit; I couldn't think of any spell. All I could think of doing as just struggling like a wild animal.

"Sasuke just lose weight." I heard Itachi yell.

How the hell was that supposed to help me? I didn't want to think about some creptic message that my brother just barel made up. I swear sometimes he was a walking fortune cookie.

I didn't really have much of a choice but to think about it though since I was basically being crushed by nothing. That spell was only affecting me it looked like since I could hear Itachi trying to dodge Xianghua. This spell was messing with the gravity around me so maybe Itachi wasn't being to crazy when he said "lose wieght" but I didn't know of any spell that would do soemthing like that.

AsI was thinking about this I saw( and felt) Xianghua trip over my body. The spell actually pulled her down on top of me. It fel like hundreds of pounds had just fallen on top of me but this girl was isanely strong. She actually forced her self to get back up. I could the muscle in her arms and legs starining to support her wieght under this much gravity. It shocked me on how easy she made it look. When she was a few inches away from me I saw that her muscles were no longer fighting against the same gravity as me. This spel only had a short range. If I could just roll out of here then maybe I could get out but what was with Itachi lame hint? What was he trying to tell me?

I started trying to run through the spells tha I had memorized from Danzo's book. Wasn't there one that actuall lightened gravity or something like that? What was the spell though. It had nothing to do with gravity really but it made the user lighter than... that was the answer to Itachi's hint? Why can't he just tell me the name of the spell? Was it because Madara was watching us tonight or was he always going to be this cryptic?

"Mihi modo plus spo." I mutter to myusef and I felt my body become lighter but nothing really changed.

The force of gravity under Xianghua's spell was more manageable and I started to stand up. My body was still under alot of strain but I was able to get on my feet and walk out of that intense gravity. As I stepped out I heard a loud crack come from the tree. I looked over and saw that it was starting to fall apart. Sakura was struggling but she looked like she was still under the spell. Wwhatever was happening I knew that Sakura was most likely winning.

"Sasuke I need you to hold down Xianghua." Itachi told me.

"Got it." I said as another loud crack came from the tree.

I went after and felt so much faster. Then I remembered I hadn't negated the spell yet so I was still lighter than normal. At least for now it meant that I would probably be able to catch Xianghua. She had this habit of coming in close to attack and then immediately retreating to avoid injury. I was at the moment chasing her down. Kilik was already out so if she was taken out then they lose because Jihiro would no choice but to surrender. She was reallly panicing now.

Just as I was about to grab her Itachi tackled me to the ground just as I saw Kilik punch at the space where I had just been standing. I remeber when he and Sakura had been fighting there had been loud thunder like cracks reonating in the arena.I was actually scared of the damage that this guy could do with his fists.

Another crack came from the tree. I saw that Kilik's eyes widened as he turned to face the tree. I knew it, thoseloud crack were happening because of Sakura. We weren't going to lose this fight.

"Go after the taller one Xianghua." Kilik said menacingly. "The little raven is mine."

"Got it." She responded.

Did he seriously just call me a little raven? He's going to pay now. I charge right at him without thinking. Just as I got closer to him Itachi had grabbed my shirt and pulled me back.

"Don't be an idiot." He said to me. "Sakura is the only one of us who cam take this guy in a fist fight. If your going to fight him then use a spell."

I nodded my response.

"Lamina fulgar!" I yelled.

A blade made of lightning form in my hand. This wasn't an easy technique to maintain. I had no medal conductor which made it harder to actually control the lightning in my hand. I'd gotten used to using it this way though so I didn't mind too much.

I charged right at Kilik with my lightning blade. As I ran more loud cracks emitted from the tree. Whatever it was it distracted Kilik long enough for me to shock the hell out of him. I could control the amount of volts that were in the blade so I made sure it wouldn't be wnough to kill him. I watched as his body convulsed for a bit before I released the spell. He stayed on his feet for a few seconds before he fell to the floor. I took a few steps away from him because I knew that Xianghua was probably ready to rip me apart now.

Xianghua didn't try to immediately attack me. She instead went to her brother and made sure he was alive; she checked his breathing and pulse. When she was satisfied she stood up and faced me ready for another fight.

"No one does that to my brother." I heard her say right before she charged at me.

She was moving faster than before now and I coul;dn't keep up with her movements. I felt punches hitting my back, stomach, and arms. I was just standing there trying to shield myself. I could see the tree now and saw that it was rotting away. Sfor a second I thought Sakrua had wokem up and casted a spell but I saw that her eyes were still closed as if she were sleeping. What the hell weas going on there anyway?

I knew that if I conjured up the black flames then it would protect me but in the process it could kill Xianghua. I only wanted to kill one person right now and that wasn't Xianghua. I just got sick of being the punching bag and just stuck my foot out. I didn't actually expect it to work but Xianghua seriously tripped and fell face first on the floor.

"I can't believe that actually tripped her." Itachi said from behind me.

As he spoke the tree started to collapse. I didn't see Sakura break free at all. I don't know why but I ran straight toward the wreckage. I started moving huge chunks out rotted wood out of the way. I heard Itachi holding back Xianghua but that barely registered.

Something began to move underneath all the debris. I took a step back as Sakura emerged without a single scratch on her. It was like nothing at all happened to her. Her eyes were still glowing red.

"How the hell did she break out of that tree?" I heard that Kilik guy say. "It's supposed to be impossible to escape Jihiro's nightmares!"

I looked into Sakura's eyes and what I saw startled me a bit. She looked perfectly fine but her eyes showed how exhausted she was. That meant that the spell had been messing with her head.

"Kilik we have to stop now." Xianghua said; her oanic was clrear in her voice. "Jihiro is probably in a lot of pain right now."

I looked over and saw that the fighting had stopped. Kilik looked like he as lost in his on head. He as just staring off into space. He blinked a few times and looked at Xianghua.  
"It's fine for now but she won't be able to do much for a while." He said.

"You know she doesn't like to tell us the truth when it comes to pain." Xianghua responded.

"I know."

"Then what are-"

"We forfiet the match!" Kilik said loudly.

Genma appeared in the middle of the arena as soon as Kilik said that.

"Sasuke, Itachi, and Sakur win this match." Genma announced. "It looks like the new blood has some amzing luck on their side."

"We want a rematch." Kilik said to Genma. "A few days from now."

"You'll have to wait until Friday night." Itachi said. "We can't really come here during the weekdays."

Kilik only raised eyebrows in response for a second.

"That's fine." he said.

"We haven't had a rematch in a while." Genma said. "Looks like we'll have a great fight coming up."

"Then it's settled." I said. "We'll be back Friday night."

I began to walk towards Madara when I saw that Jihiro was holding her head in pain. I wonder what exactly happened. I kept on walking but I noticed Sakura go towards her. She was talking to Jihiro. Whatever she had said Jihiro seemed to agree with her. Sakura then placed her hand on Jihiro's head and I saw her lips move as she muttered a spell. A green glow emitted from Sakura's head and it looked like that Jihiro was feeling better. I saw her smile at Sakura and even hug her.

I felt my lips pull up into a smile as I saw that. I normally find it hard to make the right decision when something doesn't benefit me. It's an effect of being a medium for so long. Sakura is still a young medium but she shouldn't be as kind anymore. Somehow she manages to remain pure. I wonder how she manages to stay so kind.

I kept on walking towards Madara. I wanted to hear what he thought about the fight. I was prepared for any answer he was going to give. I think we did well but I'm not Madara.

**A/N: Again sorry for the late update. Please leave a review. -TheGnRFangirl**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 7**

**A/N:Here's the next chapter. I hope you guys enjoy it. -TheGnRFangirl**

Madara had kept any emotion from showing on his face. Even his eyes did not betray what he was thinking. Knowing him; he won't say a thing until we get home. I think he gets some sort of sick joy from having people under his thumb or something. I kept walking past him because I know the sooner we get out here the sooner we get results. I could hear Itachi and Sakura following me. At least Sakura wasn't unconscious this time. She looked mentally exhausted though. Itachi was covered in injuries because he had decided to play the part of guardian. He was probably going to feel every kick and punch he had received tomorrow unless Sakura healed him when we got back home.

I heard Madara's footsteps join mine as I continued to walk away from this place. I don't think I want to come back to this arena anymore. If we were going to fight Danzo then we'd be risking our lives and fighting with spells not fists. This wasn't the right place for us. This place did offer safety because they didn't allow deaths in the arena but that wouldn't really help us. Still, we owed that group a rematch which was fine but I wanted to find a different place where we could fight. I'll just have to keep my ears open again.

"Sasuke." I heard Sakura say. "You were right."

I stopped in my tracks and turned to face her. Right about what?

"My last name isn't Senju." She told me. "My mother did adopt me. My last name is actually Haruno."

"Our books are never wrong." I replied and kept on walking.

I heard her walk a little bit faster and saw that she was on my right. I suddenly felt happier knowing that she was there right next to me. Even if Madara and Itachi both disapproved I know that Sakura will take my side. She listens to reason and has so far made being around Madara the tyrant possible. Madara had said that he wanted us to build a future for ourselves where we were happy. Could she be the one that helps me accomplish this or will she leave once Danzo is dead?

The thought of her leaving actually caused me to be upset. She's really grown on me. Back in the manor it wouldn't have mattered if she had left or stayed because all I really wanted was to be free. Now that I know she has my back and that I can trust her then maybe she could be more? I shook my head slightly. Now was not the time nor the place to think about stuff like that. As we continued to walk my mind went back to the fight.

The way she fought was amazing to me. All of her attacks were filled power but they were graceful. She was like a cheetah attacking it's prey but with the force of a bulldozer. Those loud cracks that came from their fight was actually quite frightening, It was like the sound of a thunderclap during a lightning storm. I wonder if those punches had broken any bones or something. She was probably going to have bruises tomorrow unless she healed herself.

When we got back out to the surface the cool night air hit us and it was refreshing. After being in the sewers for a while it was great to be out of there. I stood still for a second and watched as Sakura took off running. At first I thought that she was running away from us but then I remembered that she did this for fun back in Konoha. She jumped across the rooftops with such graceful movements. She would do the occasional flip and when she landed she just kept on moving. It would be nice if she could integrate that into the fights.

"That girl is very interesting." Grandpa said from behind me. "I didn't know that she had been adopted into the Senju clan. Did either of you know?"

"Who are the Senju?" I asked confused.

"Our families business rivals." Itachi clarified. "We bought them our but our roles could have been reversed if we had made any mistakes. I had no idea what her last name was."

"They were also a strong medium family as well." Madara stated. "I've never actually fought with any of them."

"I knew that her last name was Haruno." I told Madara. "It's the name that is on her book. She mentioned that she was Senju but I'm not sure if her mother ever told her she was adopted."

I didn't really want be back here with Madara anymore. His tone had started to turn somewhat bitter and I wasn't going to listen to his rant. I took off running after Sakura and for now only jumped when I needed to jump across buildings. I wanted to catch up to Sakura who was patiently waiting for the rest of us five buildings away. I got a good thrill form jumping across the buildings though. The thought that I could fall did somewhat frighten me but I knew that I would probably survive the fall.

When I caught up to her I saw that she was smiling but I was somewhat tired. That fight had exhausted me already and running across rooftops wasn't helping me rest.

"You do realize that grandfather isn't going to run after us." I told Sakura. "We should head back to him."

"But Itachi is already following us." She said, I could still see the exhaustion in her eyes.

I looked back and saw that Itachi was actually coming towards us.

"We should get back home now." I told her. "We need to rest."

She nodded her head and towards the building Itachi was currently on. I followed after her and laughed a little when I saw the confused look in Itachi's eyes. I used my hand to tell him to follow us and he quickly complied.

"Remember to use a kick to get the momentum for a flip." Sakura said as she jumped across one of the buildings. She did that same flip she showed us earlier today. When I landed on the building right across from where Madara was standing I decided I would try the flip. I ran to the center of the building before I jumped with my left leg. I remembered to kick with right as I was in the air. It was actually pretty easy to keep on running after I landed. and jumped to the building that Madara was waiting on. Of course we couldn't just have a safe little run across the rooftops. I didn't jump far enough and wound up clinging to the edge of the building. I looked down and saw that I was above an open dumpster. I really did not want to smell like trash the rest of the way home. I tried to pull myself up but my arms didn't have the strength.

"Sasuke watch me." Sakura instructed, her voice sounded like it was to my right.

I looked in that direction and saw that she was hanging on to the building as well.

"Use your legs to push yourself up." She said. "If you think you can, then flatten your hands so that you're not gripping the edge. Use your arms to pull yourself over and your legs to help you get up."

I watched as she did so. I saw that her legs did most of the heavy lifting and her arms only helped her body get over the edge and onto the building. I copied her movements and manged to get up but I couldn't get over the edge. I felt someone grab onto to me and help me up. I concentrated on getting myself up before I saw that it was Sakura. She offered a kind smile when I stood up. I didn't mind that she saved me. Considering she could enhance her strength with a spell and the fact that she's done this before didn't make me feel too embarrassed. I'll work on my physical strength so she won't have to worry about me if we do this again.

We all stayed silent as we walked back home. There wasn't really much of a reason to get back in a hurry. The only reason we were even heading home was because of Itachi. He had work in the morning tomorrow. Still, we took our time and made home before ten O' clock. Madara walked in first and sat in the armchair like before. We also sat in the couch in the same order as before.

"You guys can handle yourselves well." Madara said. "I know that you guys can use your spells well and now I see that you can handle yourselves if you can't use your magic."

For once Madara sounded older than he appeared. Was his age starting to show or was I listening with the ears of a child?

"You don't need me to stick around anymore." He said sadly.

As I watched him I saw that he was aging before us. He was no longer the young man that he normally appeared as. His hair started to turn white and his skin began to crease with age.

"I was only supposed t stay long enough to help you with your magic." He said. "I have to return to the land of the dead now. Just don't go out there on your own guys. You're all so much stronger as a team."

His body was starting to fade away now. He was never really going to stay with us.

"Itachi you will have your magic back after midnight." He said. "Watch over those two. They can still learn so much more. Sasuke, learn to control your temper. It will be the thing that kills you if you aren't careful. Sakura, don't let the boys here push you around but know your limits."

His body was barely visible anymore. I felt a single tear roll down my cheek that I wiped away quickly. Madara had been with us for so long that I had forgotten he was supposed to be dead.

"Don't entirely devote your life to magic you three." He said, his voice now echoing. "You can all still fit in with normal human even if you keep your magic."

The last word he said hung the air as he completely vanished before us. Was this why he didn't want us to fight in the arenas? He just didn't want to leave us? A cold draft entered the room as we just sat there in silence. I kept on staring at the arm chair.

"Let's go to bed." Itachi said, breaking the silence.

"Are you still going to work Itachi?" Sakura asked him.

"I think I'm going to quit." Was all he said.

There was a really long silence now. I felt a sense of loss as I sat there. Madara may have been a bit of a tyrant but he was just looking out for us I guess.

"Sasuke we are the last surviving members of the Uchiha clan." Itachi said to me.

"What's your point?" I asked, my voice hallow.

"Doesn't that fact sadden you at all?"

"Not really." I told him. "From what I remember I've spent years knowing that fact and coping just fine. The only thing that drove me insane was he fact that I couldn't leave the manor. I seriously thought I was going to rot their with the manor. Being one of two Uchiha survivors doesn't really compare to that."

More silence. I don't think any of us could really move at all.

"Can we leave this place?" Sakura asked, her voice full of sadness. "I don't think I can stay in this apartment any longer."

I grabbed her hand and looked at her. I saw that she had tears in her eyes.

"Of course we can." I told her. "There are other places that we can go to."

I noticed that she was blushing a bit but she looked really happy now. She was such a child at times. Then again she was only fifteen.

"Good thing we didn't pay the rent then." Itachi said. "We can leave as soon as we find a new place to live."

"Can we all have our own rooms?" She asked almost childishly.

"Yeah."Itachi responded.

I don't know why I was feeling this sense of loss. Madara had only been with for a few months really. Not even a whole year. His time on this earth had already passed anyway so of course he was never so supposed to stay for long.

"Sasuke are you okay?" I heard Itachi ask me.

"I don't know." I told him. "I don't understand what I'm feeling right now."

I felt Sakura tighten her grip on my hand. I'd forgotten that I was still holding hers.

"It's probably a mixture of relief and sadness." She told me. "We don't have to worry about having to impress him. He did kind of serve as a father figure as well; or at least he did for me. He's going to be missed."

I could see that the tears in her eyes still wanted to fall. Why was she so sad about this whole situation.

"I've never had a real family." Sakura said, as if reading my mind. "In Konoha I only had my mother who wasn't biologically related to me. She had been my god mother and took me in after my parents died. She didn't tell me this until I was in middle school. I have no siblings who share my pain. I never even knew my parents. I've always wondered what it was like to have siblings and a father. Madara had been very protective of all of us even though I wasn't related to you guys at all. I guess in the back of my mind I imagined him as a father figure an now he's gone. Just like my parents. Just like my god mother."

She finally let the tears fall. I couldn't just let her cry like that. I pulled her closer to me and just held her. She wasn't like me or Itachi. Sakura was someone who let her emotions and morals control her actions. That's why she helped me back in the manor. Even as a medium her morals are what made it seem like she still had her emotions. We were all feeling a hallow sensation because as mediums we had almost no emotions.

I felt her arms wrap around me and heard her sob quietly into my shoulder. I heard Itachi get up from the couch and thought that maybe this was too much for him. Instead I felt him hold both me and Sakura. He was the oldest out of all three of us. Of course he would take it upon himself to protect Sakura and me. I want to stay as a medium forever. Sakura had given her humanity in the manor so I could escape. If I wanted to I could give up my magic and live life as a normal human being. To be honest I don't plan on becoming human again. I'm fine with being a medium for the rest of my life.

How long we stayed like that I don't know nor do I care. As the seconds or minutes ticked by Sakura's sobs began to quiet into little hiccups. At some pint silence settled around us and we stayed like that for a little while longer.

"You shouldn't sleep alone tonight." I told Sakura. "Not after everything that's happened tonight."

"Okay." She said weakly.

"I'll move her bed." Itachi said and let go of us.

I felt Sakura letting go of ma and in turn I let go of her. Why had Madara's departure suddenly change us? Maybe it was a sad event and this is the only way we could deal with it. If we went to bed and woke up in the morning would we forget about him or would we still mourn him?

I looked at the only clock we kept in the apartment and was somewhat shocked to see it was almost one in the morning. That meant Itachi had his magic back. That was one good thing to be happy about at least.

I looked at Sakura and saw that her eyes were starting to close. It was definitely time for bed. I helped her up off of the couch and lead the way to my room. I walked in and saw that the three beds had been pushed against each other very tightly to fit in the room. At least there was still enough room for us to walk.

Sakura walked to her bed and just laid down in exhaustion. She closed er eyes and just let them flutter close. Soon her breathing became quiet and even. She was finally sleeping. I climbed into my own bed and closed my eyes. I heard Itachi climb in before my mind drifted off to peaceful slumber...

I opened my eyes and saw that above me was a stone ceiling. I sat up to and looked at the door that I knew was there. I've had this dream before. On the outside would be a guard that made sure the door always remained closed. He never chased me when I got out. I got off of the bed I was laying on and looked for a vent. When I saw the vent I was glad to see that it was big enough for me to crawl through. I forced it open and began to crawl through it. I know that from here I just had to get to the second floor in order to unlock the exit. Then I would have to climb my way to the fourth floor of this complex in order to reach the actual exit.

I found a vent that exited out into the hallway I started to punch the vent to get it open. I didn't stop until my knuckles were covered in blood. I waited a little while so that my hand could heal itself. When I saw the skin completely replaced on my hand I continued punching the vent. It opened up eventually but it made a lot of noise. Sometimes the guard would come and check out the commotion. I never bothered to stay to see his reaction. I crawled out and turned to my left. There should be a staircase around here that would go to the second floor.

As I ran I could hear the screams of the other prisoners. I ignored them and just kept on running. They didn't mean anything to me. I saw a hallway coming up on my right and took it. There was another opening directly to the left. I ran and saw the stairs. I started taking two steps at a time. I could feel my lungs burning with the effort but I wanted to get out of this cold stone environment. When I reached the second floor I stepped out of a small room and took a right. I had to slow down my pace now. I was walking because my lungs couldn't get enough oxygen. I took forty steps and then made a left. Twenty more steps and I stepped into a control room to my right.

I saw all the different levers, buttons, and switches that could trigger a number of different things. Monitors were set up in here as well. There was a black lever that caught my eye. I pulled and and saw a green light go off. Through one of the monitors I saw the mechanism of door begin to unlock. I was about to turn around and leave when I something on the monitors caught my eye.

The screens on the bottom left were of two cells similar to my own. Inside of the cells I could see Sakura and Itachi. Both looked like they had been cut up and beaten. This was unusual; I was always alone inside of this dream. I saw the door to Sakura's cell open up. A hooded figure stepped inside. That was all I needed to get me to move. Because the monitors were on the bottom row I knew I had to go back down to the first floor.

I had to flip my route backwards in order to get back downstairs. I was never great at retracing my steps but I somehow managed to make it back to the first floor. I knew their cells would bee near the end of a hallway because of where the monitor had been positioned. This was my dream so the logic of this place would to be linked to my mind. I started running again. I noticed that the guard that was usually here had disappeared. Something wasn't right. I kept running down the hall until I saw two figures standing in the middle of the hallway.

I stopped in front of them. To my left was a boy with short black hair, black eyes, and a pale skin tone. His face showed no emotion and he wore a cloak that resembled Danzo's. To my right was a fair-skinned girl with white blonde hair that reached her hips. A bang covered the right side of her face. Her eyes were a light blue and she wore the same cloak as the boy. They seemed familiar to me somehow. Had I seen them somewhere?

"You can not pass us." The boy said in a monotone voice. "We will not stop you if you leave now."

I didn't have time for a bunch of useless guards.

"Ignis et gladius meus scutum meum voco!" I said in anger.

I fire began to engulf me now but it wasn't harming me. It was wrapping around me and forming into armor. I held out my right arm and watched as a crossbow made of fire attached itself onto my arm. A kusunagi blade appeared at my waist as fire then began to change color. It changed from the red, yellow, and orange blaze to a light purple color.

I pointed the crossbow at the two standing in front of.

"Get out of the way or you're dead." I told him.

Instead of moving out the way they got into fighting positions. If the wanted to die then fine. They weren't keeping me away from the people I cared about. I pulled back the string of the crossbow and was amazed when I saw a bolt appear ready to be fired. I aimed at the girl first; ladies first. I felt that the trigger was always in my right hand. I squeezed my right hand into a fist and fired the bolt right at the blonde girl. Right before the bolt pierced her the boy had brought out a ninjato that somehow blocked my bolt.

"Your fate has been sealed." The boy said as he came at me.

I started walking backwards trying my best not to get sliced.

"Inspirare vitam in atramentum imitantem vitam meam." The boy said as he pulled out a scroll from within his back pocket. There were drawings on them. I would have laughed at the fact that he was bringing out drawings in this kind of situation if the drawings didn't peel off the paper and become three dimensional. I was now facing a lion mad of ink.

"date lilia armis." The girl said.

What looked like a huge purple rose with thorns appeared in her hand. She snapped arm to the right and I watched as the rose stretched out into a whip with many thorns. She flicked her wrist and the rose blade thing pulled itself together. It was some sort of snake sword.

I reset the crossbow and aimed right at the tiger. I fired the bolt at the lion. It missed and came straight at me. I took a couple of steps back. I grabbed the kusunagi blade and sliced the lion in half. It turned into nothing but a puddle of ink. Before I could even celebrate my small victory I felt a pain in my stomach. I looked down and saw that the snake sword had pierced through the fire armor and in through my stomach. The blade itself was drenched in magic that radiated from it. This was a fatal wound. That girl pulled the blade and took most of my insides with the blade.

I fell onto the floor in pain. This was no dream. It was a nightmare. It had become a nightmare the moment I saw Sakura and Itachi on the monitors.

"You should have left when you had the chance." The boy said as he and the girl took their guarding positions in front of the door.

I think know where I saw these two last time. They were with Sakura in the Manor. Why were they in my dreams then? I let my eyes close and let the darkness take me back to what I hope would be reality.

I sat up straight in my bed. As a result I woke up both Itachi and Sakura in alarm. My breathing was erratic, my heartbeat was out of control and I was sweating. In the dream I hadn't been scared but now that I was awake the reality of the situation hit me. The words that the boy said is what frightened me the most though. What did he mean that my fate sealed?

I felt someone slap me across the face. I looked at who slapped me and was shocked to see that it was Sakura.

"You need to calm down." She told me.

She cupped my face in hands gently. As she did so all I could do was concentrate on her lips now.

"Take deep even breaths Sasuke." She said sweetly. "Inhale through your nose and hold it in for a few seconds. The exhale through your mouth."

I did as she told me to. I kept staring at her lips as I breathed. I felt my heartbeat slow down. My eyes met hers. I felt a single tear roll down my cheek; when had I started crying? She brushed the tear away for me.

"What did you see?" She asked me.

I started talking about my dream. I told her every detail. I felt a knot form in my throat when I told her about the hooded figure appearing in her cell. I only swallowed my own spit and kept on talking. I felt someone; probably Itachi; put a glass of water in my hand. She let go of me when I ended my story. I blinked for a few seconds. What just happened to me?

I drank the water I was handed in one gulp and looked at Itachi.

"This is another bad sign." I told him. "What do we do?"

"Madara wanted us to leave." Itachi said bluntly.

"Wouldn't it be better if we stayed and fight?" Sakura asked.

"We would draw the attention of humans and mediums alike." I told her.

"We don't even know if he is coming." Itachi said. "It would be better if we went to a more quiet area though."

There was silence in the room.

"The forest of Konoha are really dense." Sakura explained. "If you go far enough there's an old bridge that has long been forgotten. Most people won't go near it because they believe it has a curse."

"Did you and your friends ever investigate?" I asked her.

"No." She said. "We were going to go to the bridge after the Uchiha Manor."

More Silence followed.

"How far into the forest is this bridge?" Itachi asked.

"By foot it's about four days away." Sakura explained. "You can make part of the journey by care but the forest gets so dense that you have to walk."

"No one ever goes that far?" Itachi asked.

"There's no reason to." Sakura said. "A lot of people in Konoha are scared of the myths and old stories that come from the town. I doubt anyone would go near there."

"Then that bridge will act as the battlefield." Itachi said. "We have to see how well we fight with magic. Then we move on from there."

I nodded my agreement. I saw that Sakura smiled. Of course she'd be happy. She might get to go home for a little while. She seemed to glow as she smiled. Had she always done that?

**A/N: Sorry if this took a while to post up. I was working a new little project for you guys. I won't be posting it yet though. -TheGnRFangirl**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 8

**A/N:Hi** **everyone**..**.** **Sorry** **it** **took** **so** **long** **to** **update**. **Getting** **ready** **to** **transition** **from** **highschool** **to** **college** **has** **taken** **its** **toll** **on** **me** **for** **a** **while**. **Especially** **since** **I've** **been** **recovering** **from** **a** **bad** **injury**. **I** **know** **this** **chapter** **is** **kind** **of** **short** **but** **the** **next** **chapter** **is** **already** **in** **progress**.-**TheGnRFangirl**

Out of all three of us the best spell caster would unquestionably have to be Itachi. He had every spell from the black books memorized and half of our families spells were already in his head. He didn't have to review spells like I had to. He was a good measuring stick to see how well Sakura and I had really been doing.

We packed up everything that would fit into the car. The rest we abandoned in some alleyway. Our next destination would be our arena. All three of us needed to know where we were at with our magic. As we drove down the road I kept having the feeling like someone was watching us but I couldn't be sure. That nightmare probably just shook me up.

"Our next move will be determined by the results of this next match guys." Itachi said from the back seat.

"We both got the message back in the apartment." I told him. "We don't need a reminder."

"I know but we don't exactly know if any of us are ready."

"Itachi your the ruler that we'll measure ourselves with."

"And why am I the ruler?"

"You have every spell memorized and can keep calmer than me. Magic is controlled by how well we concentrate. Something that is hard during a fight."

"What makes you you think I concentrate better than either of you?"

"Even when we fought in the arena last night you were still able to help me even though you were in the middle of a fight."

Silence from the back seat.

"You okay back there Itachi?" Sakura asked without taking her eyes off the road.

"Yeah." He answered. "I was kind of expecting Madara to interrupt or something."

This would be the kind of argument Madara would end by just bringing another random subject. Actually, he'd probably start listing everyone's strengths and weaknesses.

"We still have a rematch with Kilik's group to deal with as well." Itachi said.

"Would it be bad for us to ignore the rematch with them?" I asked.

"That's not something that I know of." Itachi said. "It'd be better to play it safe and give them their rematch. We don't want to have any bad blood between our families."

"True but what if Danzo really is chasing us?" I countered. "We could be causing them more trouble if we don't leave."

"Right now little brother I just don't know."

I looked behind me and saw that he was holding the bridge of his nose in anger. It was probably because he doesn't know what to do in this situation. I understood his frustration.

"We could always talk to them somehow." Sakura suggested as she stopped the car.

"We don't have any way to contact them Sakura." Itachi told her.

"I'm sure Genma would know of a way." She said.

"And if he doesn't?"

"Then I guess we'd be back to square one."

No one made a move to leave the car. Sakura might be right though. Genma might have a way to contact Kilik's group but I had my doubts. He didin't have any way to contact us so why would he have any way of contacting anyone else that participated in the arena that he ran? I doubt that he even knew the group outside of the arena. We had very little options.

"We won't really know unless we try." Sakura said in defiance.

"Nothing really suggests that he would be able to contact them." I told her. "He has no way of contacting us. From that we can logically guess that he can't contact anyone who is outside of that arena."

I could see some form of defeat in her eyes. I think she knew it was a hopeless idea from the start. There was no longer any reason to remain in the car. Sakura was the first to get out of the car, Itachi and I got out as well. I took the lead and headed toward the sewer. Sakura was right on my heels and Itachi was right behind her. Following the same path that we've used since we first found this place was uneventful for the most part. Well, except for a rat that scared Sakura when it ran in front of her. Entering the arena now felt like a relief for some reason. What's wrong with me now I wonder.

"I'm guessing this is going to guess this is going be a one versus two match." Itachi stated.

I nodded my response and started walking towards the combat area. The sound of footsteps behind me assured me that they were following me. Once I was in the combat area I kept on walking towards the very center. There would be no thirty feet across from each other or bow to your opponent bullshit now. Politeness and honor would not exist in this fight.

I turned around once I was in the center, Sakura ws already on my right side.

"Any rules that we should follow?" Itachi asked.

"Lets just assume that Danzo won't be playing fair." I told him. "The only rule is not to kill each other. Other than that, anything goes."

Itachi nodded his agreement. I turned to look at Sakura and was glad to see that she wasn't frightened by these rules. She actually seemed really eager to fight. Perhaps she had a hidden sadistic side.

I turned my attention back to Itachi. I really wanted to see how we matched up against him. A few seconds ticked by but no one made a move. This seemed almost like a real fight. There was a cold chill in the air that almost promised disaster. Just as I managed to swallow my nervousness Sakura casted the first spell.

"Vires!" She yelled as she closed the small distance between her and Itachi.

I watched Itachi's lips move but I didn't hear the spell he muttered. I knew that it would take time for her spell to take full effect. Something in the back of my mind told me that I couldn't let her get hurt. My body reacted before I knew what I was doing.

I watched someone grab Sakura by the shoulder and pull her away from Itachi. Now I was in front of Itachi.

"Lamina fulgur!" I yelled as I pointed my arm at Itachi. I had enough control over the lightning to keep it non-lethal but it would still give my brother a pretty good shock.

The second my lightning hit Itachi he burst into a bunch of crows. I wasn't expecting that. The shock caused me to cut off the spell. I felt the hairs on the bqck of my neck stood up which cqused me to look up. I saw Sakura punch Itachi in midair. She sent him crashing onto the floor. Before I knew it, I held out my arms and caught Sakura. I felt my heartbeat quicken as I held her. I set her down gently and turned my attention back to Itachi. He had a smirk on his face that showed he was fine.

Our sparring match didn't even last five minutes. Itachi's favorite spells seemed to mess with the five senses. Sakura did have a knack for seeing through these spells but she had to pull me out. When Itachi used fire based spells I took the lead while Sakura kept healing me. For the most part Itachi was untouchable. This is the first time he's used magic since the manor. He silenced me and placed me in a cage just like in the manor. Sakura did try to break the cage but she could never get close enough. Itachi silenced her as well but she still had her first spell active. Of course Itachi never took any hits.

In the end we knew that we weren't going to win and (begrudgingly) admitted defeat. Sakura was my perfect partner. Since my body healed abnormally faster than even mediums I tended to disregard my own health and safety. Sakura had a healer's instincts. The moment she saw an injury on me that didn't heal she would step in and heal it. Her fighting skills were getting better. Her punches and kicks were becoming more accurate. She could get careless but avoided unnecessary risks. Together we could hold our own if we weren't separated from each other. It was our flaw and could become the final nail in our coffins when we face Danzo.

Thank the Gods that Itachi was on our side. His skill and favorite spells could change things very easily. If he didn't get hurt then Sakura wouldn't have to worry about him. I'm sure he could keep all three of us out of harm's way.

"Itachi that was amazing!" I heard Sakura say. "I couldn't even keep up with you. How were you able to do that."

I didn't hear Itachi's response. My mind was only capable of watching Sakura at that moment. She was smiling as she listened to Itachi. Her eyes kind lit up with excitement. I felt my heartbeat started to speed up. I even felt my cheeks warm up a bit. This sensation was foreign to me. I don't remember having felt this way before.

I turned my attention to my brother instead. His lit up a bit as talked to Sakura. I felt a very familiar form in the back of my throat. I could almost taste the bitterness of jealousy as I watched him. Why was I feeling jealous. What could possibly cause me to be jealous of Itachi? Then again, he did just show us how skilled he was even though he hasn't really used magic since the manor incident. He always had to better than me at everything.

I didn't really feel like hearing the rest of their conversation. I made my way to the spectator area where Madara usually sat. They didn't even notice that I left the combat zone. I couldn't really understand my jealousy though. If I were jealous of Itachi's skills with magic shouldn't I have been feeling like this during the actual fight? This wasn't. exactly the kind of jealousy I felt when growing up in Itachi's shadow. This was something else entirely.

These emotions were all stronger than anything I've ever felt. I sat down and tried to calm myself down. I closed my eyes and took deep breaths. I hoped that this would calm the flood of emotions that were flowing through me. Mediums weren't supposed to really have any emotions. In the beginning you won't really notice but with time emotoins fade away. It was one of the prices we paid for power.

One breath... Two breaths... Three breaths... The emotions were starting to fade. The angry fire withen me began to sizzle out. I heard my name being called from a distance. I waited until I knew for sure that I was back in control again. I heard my name being said again.

I opened my eyes and saw that Sakura's face was only a few centimeters from mine. I jumped back in surprise.

"Sakura, what the hell!?" I asked.

She'd been startled by my outburst because she hwd taken a few steps back.

"Sorry." She said sheepishly. "You kind of looked like you were dozing off so..."

"So you decided to get into my personal space?" I asked.

She only blushed in response but I couldn't help but think that she looked cute when she blushed.

"Hey can the two lovebirds please return to reality?"I heard my brother ask.

"Very funny Itachi." I said as I stood up.

I saw Itachi smirking at me. In anger I flipped him off. He only rolled his eyes.

"I think we can handle ourselves pretty well." Itachi said, his tone serious. "We won't know where we stand against Danzo until we fight him."

"I don't like the direction this is taking." Sakura said.

"It's the only way we'll know for sure." I said to her.

Sakura kept a stoic face but the panic showed in her eyes. It was barely detectable.

"We'll still have to deal with Kilik's group." Itachi said. "We can see if they're at the arena."

I forgot about them.

"Why do we have to worry about them again?" I asked.

"We don't know what'll happen if we don't give them their re-match." Itachi stated. "I'd rather avoid a potential feud with them so we're playing it safe."

I only nodded my head this time.

"Then we should get going." Sakura chirped in.

She started making her way towards the door. I started to follow her but Itachi held me back.

"Be careful with your emotions." Itachi said quietly and ominously. "Your emotions can consume you very easily if you can't keep them under control."

When he let go of me I just walked after Sakura. I guess mediums do keep their emotions. Great.

**_A_****/N:Please** **leave** **a** **review**. **All** **forms** **of** **are** **accepted**. -**TheGnRFangirl**


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